Manny Pacquiao, 42-3-2, 33 KO’s who is known as a superstar in the country of the Philippines and is truly an idol of his countrymen who talk about him with reverence daily in store fronts, gymnasiums and other meeting places.
Why has Pacquiao become a phenomenon in his country some 30 plus years after a man in our very own country the good ole USA did whose name was Muhammad Ali, 56-5, 37 KO’s? This question to some boxing fans may be perplexing, but to diehard boxing fans, it’s quite simple. Manny has endeared himself to the poor, less fortunate people of his country, but not to stop there, also the elite as well.
When a person and in this case, a boxer can do that, he is going to transcend the sport of boxing as Muhammad Ali did within those same demographics of people in the 1970’s. There were dolls, a movie called The Greatest, commercials on TV which I am sure you remember the old Raid commercial with Ali knocking out those nasty roaches. There was even a comic book with Muhammad Ali taking on Superman.
Well, Manny Pacquiao has reached this status in the Philippines as well with commercials, movies and other endorsements and rightfully so. The old saying if you capture their hearts and minds, you will have them. Thus the parallel between Ali and Pacquiao is cemented. The entire world at one time looked at the USA and admired the love and respect they had for their Heavyweight Champion who became a larger than life figure. It’s now time to look outside of our country to the Philippines with the same respect; those countries had looking in at ours so many years ago.
Pacquiao who stands all of close to 5’7, but packs a heavyweight punch in the ring and like Ali, took on all comers to his throne. In the last three years, Pacquiao has taken on fighters with names such as Oscar Larrios, Erik Morales (twice), Hector Velazquez, 3K Battery, Juan Manuel Marquez, Marco Antonio Barrera and Emmanuel Lucero. Every one of these fighters were no pushovers and to boot, they had a combined record at the time of facing Pacquiao of 310 wins against only 29 losses. How did Pacquiao fair? He lost only to Morales by scores of 115-113 on all three scorecards the first time around, but in the rematch against “El Terrible”, he avenged his loss in a destructive fashion by stopping him in the tenth round. In his bout against Marco Antonio Barrera in Nov of 2003, which turned into a shocker for all in attendance when Pacman beat MAB from pillar to post throughout the entire fight, eventually stopping him in the 11th round. In his bouts with Battery, Lucero and Velazquez, only Velazquez made it to the sixth round to talk about it. In his fight with JMM, he was robbed of a win when the first round of their fight where he dropped Marquez three times and should have been scored a 10-7 round was scored that way, but only on two of three judges’ cards. Had it been scored correctly, Manny would have been declared the winner, but in the end, the fight was a draw. Now credit has to be given to Marquez from coming back in that fight, but it still does not take away the fact that a bad decision was rendered in the end. Manny wanted to prove that he could beat JMM, but for nothing short of greed, Team Marquez out priced their worth and Pacquiao moved on to bigger and better things.
In Pacquiao’s last fight when he faced a game Oscar Larrios, a tough ex champion who showed a heart that allowed him to last the 12 round decision, but not without tasting the canvas twice during their fight. In the end, he would lose by 14, 10 and 7 points on the three judges’ scorecards.
Muhammad Ali during his comeback after being suspended for three and half years for not allowing himself to be inducted into the US Army during the height of the Vietnam War, also took on all comers. He faced names such as Jerry Quarry (twice), Joe Frazier (3 times), Ken Norton (3 times), George Foreman, Ron Lyle and Earnie Shavers along with many others, but these are the ones who really stand out as world class.
As you can see, both Pacquiao and Ali didn’t talk about being great, they proved it by fighting the best out there and winning almost every time out, which proved in fact, they are great. And in their defeats against that same world class competition, they avenged their losses (Pacquiao TKO10 over Erik Morales, Ali UD12 and TKO14 over Joe Frazier and SD and UD over Ken Norton). A fighter, avenging his losses along with his willingness to stand across from another man that beat him fair and square in a previous encounter, is another sign in my book, which forever makes them great champions.
In my mind, Manny Pacquiao and Muhammad Ali though years apart, in the rings they fought in deserve the love and respect their two countries some 30 plus years apart bestowed upon them.
