By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
It's just past Thursday evening in General Santos City, Philippines, where Filipino boxing superstar and congressional candidate, Manny Pacquiao, is completing his 31st birthday celebration.
At the same time, it has been announced that the seven-division, world champion has been listed among Time Magazine's Top 25 People Who Mattered in 2009 --listed alphabetically right behind the United States' first African American president, Barack Obama.
"For Manny Pacquio to even be mentioned on the list of the most influential people of 2009 is a great tribute to this young man," said Bob Arum, of Top Rank, Pacquiao's promoter. "And it's something that I'm very, very happy for him about and that he should be very, very proud of."
On the magazine's cover is Person Of The Year, Ben Bernanke, the 56-year-old chairman of the Federal Reserve.
"It just shows how people around the world are viewing this young man, and how he's providing everyone with hope for the emergence of third-world countries," said Arum, who turned 78 earlier this month.
"This is a great, great phenomenon. This isn't an American athlete. This isn't a European athlete," said Arum. "This is an athlete who comes from a poor country in Asia. A country that is struggling."
Pacquiao is an iconic symbol in the Philippines, where he only obtained an elementary education, passed his high school equivalency exam, and earned a college degree at Notre Dame of Dadiangas University -- whose motto is All to Jesus through Mary.
Pacquiao has become a cross-over star in America, where, last month, he graced the cover of the Asian edition of Time Magazine, was featured in both The New York Times and in ESPN's Body Issue, and was a hit while singing during a guest appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
On Nov. 14, Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 knockouts) earned his biggest payday -- a guaranteed $13 million, plus upside to the pay preview, by knocking out Miguel Cotto in the 12th round.
Pacquiao's victory dethroned Cotto as WBO welterweight (147 pounds) champion, earning the fighter's unprecedented seventh world title in as many weight classes.
On March 13, Pacquiao -- widely considered boxing's No. 1pound-for-pound fighter -- is expected to earn a career-best guaranteed $25 million for facing five-time world champion, Floyd Mayweather Jr. (40-0, 25 KOs) in a megabout.
Reached in General Santos City, where he was with Pacquiao during his celebration, the fighter's adviser, Michael Koncz, was hearing of Time Magazine's honor for the first time.
Koncz said that Pacquiao was "in a political meeting" and could not comment.
"It's about 12:30 a.m. here, and we just got through with a large, birthday celebration where there were about 5,000 guests," said Koncz, from The General Santos Mall Convention Center.
"There were a lot of congressmen, senators, the next president of the Philippines was here," said Koncz. "I'm sure that Manny will be delighted to hear that the people of Time Magazine are choosing him as being that influential, but he's very humble about it. He's not going to dwell on it or brag about it."
A man of deeply-religious faith, Pacquiao, the 2008 Fighter Of The Year, shares an alternate nickname, "The Greatest," with another former world boxing champion, Muhammad Ali, to whom Arum says he favorably compares.
"Muhammad Ali was a beloved figure in his prime, but also a reviled figure. There were people on both sides of the political spectrum, particularly regarding the war in Vietnam. The ones that opposed it loved Ali, and the ones who were in favor of it didn't," said Arum.
"But until he was long-retired, Ali was never the universally admired figure in this country and around the world like Manny Pacquiao, who is someone different," Arum said of Pacquiao, also nicknamed, "The Pac-Man."
"Anybody who is aware of Manny Pacqiao loves him, admires him, and there are no haters," said Arum. "There is no right or left when it comes to Manny Pacquiao. That's made him a more, universally revered figure than Muhammad Ali."
Pacquiao's humanitarian efforts during the buildup to his fight with Cotto gained him even more notariety.
During two typhoons, Pacquiao endured tumultuous conditions to help save lives by delivering food into devastated areas.
As a result, Pacquiao earned recognition on Nov. 24 in Manila as a 2009 Gusi Peace Prize laureate -- the award's only athlete among 19 honorees from 16 different nations.
Pacquiao-Cotto generated 1.25 million buys, which represented the highest performing boxing pay-per-view event in 2009, and which was "the biggest event of the year for pay per view from the standpoint of revenue generated," said Arum.
On Dec. 9, Pacquiao completed the shooting of a super hero movie, WaPak Man, which is expected to be released on Christmas.
And then, on March 26, Pacquiao will begin campaigning for a congressional seat in his native country, whose elections are to be held on May 10.
A resident of General Santos City, Pacquiao was born into poverty as Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao in Kibawe, Bukidnon.
Considered a man of strong, Christian faith, Pacquiao's first name, Emmanuel, in The Bible means "God with us" -- adding significance for some of his countrymen to the fact that he was born only eight days prior to the widely recognized birthday of Jesus Christ.
As far as the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, Koncz confirmed that both fighters have agreed to terms, which are to compete at 147 pounds, wear eight-ounce gloves, split the take 50-50, and be randomly drug-tested, Olympic-style.
Only the site of the bout has yet to be determined, said Koncz, with the leading candidates being the MGM Grand and The Dallas Cowboys' Stadium, whose owner, Jerry Jones, has offered $25 million to host the bout.
"It's [the location of the fight] still between the MGM and Dallas. There's no panic situation. Somebody's going to host this megafight. No one is in panic-mode," said Koncz. "I spoke to Arum this morning, and he got on the phone with Manny to wish him a happy birthday."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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