By Benny Evangelista, Chronicle Staff Writer
Anthony Quemuel is such a big Manny Pacquiao fan that he dropped by a Pleasanton sporting goods store to buy the second pair of the boxer's special Nike "Pac Man" shoes that he's purchased this week.
"I need to have at least two pair because they're exclusive," said Quemuel, 29, of Union City. "When they came out, they sold out and you couldn't find them anywhere. The retail value was $110. They were going on the Internet for $225."
It's no surprise that the Philippine superstar with lightning-fast punches has such a strong following in the Bay Area, home to more than 356,000 Filipino Americans like Quemuel. But Pacquiao is becoming a household name, one of the rare sports stars with crossover appeal to even non-sports fans.
And although experts say he's not quite there, his appeal may translate into more marketing power for the man whom GQ magazine, in its April edition, calls a cross between Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara, Czech playwright Vaclav Havel, boxing legend Muhammad Ali, actor Sylvester Stallone, NFL quarterback Michael Vick and "American Idol" singer Clay Aiken.
"I definitely believe he's going to be a crossover star," said Marcus Troy, a Montreal blogger who writes about culture, lifestyle and fashion trends. "We haven't seen someone with his kind of charisma and skill in a long time."
Pacquiao, 31, has won world boxing titles in seven weight divisions and is ranked as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
Pacquiao's welterweight bout Saturday night against Joshua Clottey drew nearly 50,994 people to Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the biggest U.S. boxing crowd in 17 years and third-largest in U.S. boxing history, even more remarkable because the sport's popularity has been waning.
But his popularity is transcending sports. Last year, Time magazine named him one of the world's 100 most influential people.
Earlier this month, Pacquiao received hearty cheers on ABC-TV's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" even after crooning a less-than-stellar rendition of George Benson's "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You."
Nike gear
Featured displays of his line of Nike T-shirts, hoodies, shorts and shoes drew pre-fight crowds Saturday at stores like Niketown in downtown San Francisco and Champs Sports in Pleasanton's Stoneridge Shopping Center.
"What Nike is doing for him is giving him the spotlight, the platform," said Troy, who said the Nike line is also popular in places like Montreal and Toronto. "What I'm seeing with this Manny Pacquiao thing is that regular people who are fans of the man are buying his product. They like what he stands for."
Bob Dorfman, a sports marketing expert with San Francisco's Baker Street Advertising, said boxing hasn't seen a performer who has "captured the imagination of the casual fan in a long time."
"He's got more going for him than boxing," Dorfman said. "He appeals to both sexes. He's kind of a Renaissance man."
And at a time when the images of sports idols like Tiger Woods have been sullied by off-field transgressions, Pacquiao's image as a common-man-turned-champion remains clean.
"He's got a wonderful window of opportunity," said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon. But, he said, "the jury is out on whether he reaches that sort of iconic status."
Boxing is still not a top-tier sport in terms of popularity, and bouts are not frequent enough to hold the public's attention, he said. Olympic athletes, for whom the spotlight shines only once every four years, have a similar problem, unless they get creative and end up on "Dancing With the Stars" like gold medal skaters Apolo Anton Ohno or Evan Lysacek.
"Our world is built on 'What have you done for me lately?' " he said.
Mayweather bout
Dorfman said Pacquiao still needs a decisive win over six-time champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. A much-anticipated Pacquiao-Mayweather showdown is being held up by disputes over drug testing.
"That might put him over the hump in terms of making him a household name and face," Dorfman said.
Pacquiao's critics say his aspirations outside of the ring may also hold him back. Even with two platinum albums in the Philippines, his singing career suffered a setback this week when promoters canceled a "Manny Pacquiao Live in Hawaii Concert Celebration" scheduled for Sunday because of poor advance ticket sales.
And Pacquiao is again running in May for a seat in the Philippine Congress, even though his popularity hasn't translated to the polls - he lost a run for Congress in 2007.
Other major marketers may also be gun-shy about jumping on an athlete's coattails.
"Right now, advertisers are just so nervous about signing anybody to a big seven-figure deal again," Dorfman said. "After Tiger Woods, they don't know about anybody."
In good company
With his ring earnings and endorsements from Nike and San Miguel Beer, Manny Pacquiao was sixth on Forbes magazine's list of world's highest-paid athletes in 2009.
Tiger Woods was first with $110 million, but Pacquiao's $40 million tied him with NBA star LeBron James and golfer Phil Mickelson, and put him within $5 million of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, Formula One racer Kimi Raikkonen and soccer's David Beckham.
E-mail Benny Evangelista at bevangelista@sfchronicle.com.
Source: sfgate.com
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