By John F. McKenna (McJack): Manny Paquiao, AKA Pacman (55-3-2, 38 KO’s) is one of the very few active fighters who can truly be called a great fighter. At just over 5’6”, Manny has worked his way up from Flyweight all the way to Light Middleweight, winning eight championship belts along the way. In addition to the “Pacman’s” boxing career, on May 10, 2010 he was elected to the 15th Congress in the Philippines. He is also a military reservist with the rank of Sergeant Major.
As a youth Manny lived in extreme poverty and left home at the age of 14. He found himself living on the streets until he started boxing and joined the Philippine National Amateur Boxing team where his room and board were paid for by the government.
Manny achieved an amateur boxing record of 60 wins and 4 losses. In February of 2007 Pacquiao took and passed a high school equivalency test and was awarded a high school diploma by the Department of Education. This opened the door for Manny to further pursue his education. Manny is a devout Christian and has immersed himself in humanitarian work in order to give back to the community. In essence, Manny is a self made man who has literally lifted himself up by the bootstraps.
The “Pacman’s” professional career has been nothing short of spectacular. When he defeated Miguel Cotto in 2009, boxing historian Bert Sugar referred to the Filipino Icon as one of the greatest fighters of all time calling him “The Evel Knievel of boxing where he leaps over entire divisions”. Bert Sugar is not alone in his assessment of Pacquiao’s greatness.
Legendary trainer Emanuel Steward also describes Pacquiao as being an all time great. Steward stated in a November 2009 interview that Manny is beyond the hall of fame and belongs with all time great fighters such as Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson. There are many other writers and boxing historians who agree with Bert Sugar’s and Emanuel Steward’s assessment of Manny Pacquiao’s greatness.
You would think that Pacquiao is someone who should be appreciated for his accomplishments not only in the ring, but by the way he lives his personal life. What is not to like about Manny Pacquiao? It is refreshing to see a fighter today who is not an arrogant thug and who does not throw the “F” bomb around every thirty seconds during an interview. Part of the reason promoter Bob Arum left HBO for Showtime was because of Pacquiao’a broad base appeal to Showtime’s larger viewing audience. HBO has a viewing audience of about 30 million compared to 100 million for Showtime. When the tickets for the upcoming Pacquiao vs Mosley fight on May 7, 2011 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas became available, 16,000 tickets were sold in just three hours.
It is quite understandable that everyone is not going to like Pacquiao. That is what makes boxing so interesting. Everyone has their own favorite fighter and that is the way it should be. In the case of Manny Pacquiao however, there has been a strong undercurrent of hostility. In some instances the hostility is borderline hatred. You expect to see and hear comments related to the way a fighter performs in the ring. You see numerous comments about Pacquiao, which degrade his ethnic heritage, including the color of his skin. Comments referring to him as a “midget” and a “hut dweller” must really make the person or people making those comments feel good about themselves.
Manny is a class act and I’m sure he can handle the negative ethnic comments.
There is an old axiom which states that “when your detractors run out of legitimate reasons to attack you, they start going after your heritage and ethnicity.”
Apparently we have reached the point where there are no more valid reasons to attack Manny. He is now being attacked not only for his ethnicity, but for the way he dresses etc. As we get closer to Pacquiao’s next fight against Shane Mosley I’m sure the hostility will only increase.
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