ARLINGTON – Here is as good a starting point as any in trying to explain the size of the shadow Manny Pacquiao casts over his native Philippines: Back in March 2008, his country's army and rebel insurgents near his home province agreed to a seven-hour truce so both sides could watch him win the WBC super featherweight title of the world.
And that was only a little more than halfway through Pacquiao's ongoing championship march.
Two years later, Pacquiao is preparing to enter the Cowboys Stadium ring Saturday night to defend his WBO welterweight title against Joshua Clottey, having won titles in seven weight divisions.
Pacquiao won his first title a dozen years ago as a skeletal 112-pounder. He subsequently has won championships at 122 pounds, 126 pounds, 130 pounds, 135 pounds and 140 pounds, and in November he added the 147-pound welterweight title. The victories in seemingly incremental weight classes are not nearly as impressive as the fighters he has beaten as he has grown in size and stature. His victims include Miguel Angel Cotto, Ricky Hatton, Oscar De La Hoya, Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, a veritable murderers row of champions.
His ascent has made him the undisputed best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, which makes him champion of champions.
"I have been around Muhammad Ali, Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard, and I can say that Manny Pacquiao is the best fighter I have seen," said Bob Arum, who has promoted many of the biggest names in boxing over the last four decades and, coincidentally, has a financial stake in Pacquiao.
Pacquiao, a heavy betting favorite in Las Vegas, will step into the ring against Clottey at about 10 p.m. Saturday. That's noon Sunday in the Philippine capital of Manila, whose metropolitan area is home to 20 million people.
"At that time, you could pitch a tent on what is usually the busiest street in Manila and not have the least worry of being hit by a vehicle," said Chino Trinidad, a reporter for the ABS-CBN broadcast network, the largest in the Philippines, as he watched Pacquiao train this week. "It sounds corny, but he means everything to us. There has never been a sports figure like him. He's more than the greatest boxer we have had. He is the greatest athlete. You know, we have never won a gold medal at the Olympics."
Stamp of authority
Pacquiao, 31, is the first athlete his country has honored with a postal stamp. He can't leave his home without a band of bodyguards and is often shielded by police escorts.
Despite his iconic stature, he was unsuccessful when he ran for the Philippine Congress in 2007. Undaunted, he is running again this year.
"I want to help poor people," is the stock answer he repeated this week when asked about his appetite for politics.
Poor, rich, middle class, soldiers, guerillas – everyone back home roots for Pacquiao. There will be few morning masses Sunday in the heavily Catholic country. Parishioners who do go to church run the risk of not having a priest to lead the service.
So then how is it that Pacquiao lost his first political race and is no shoo-in for the upcoming election?
"Some people don't want him to get involved in the dirty world of politics," said Nick Andrew C. Giongco, a reporter with the Manila Bulletin newspaper, one of the largest in the Philippines.
"And they are afraid if he gets elected, he won't fight anymore."
All this helps explain why Time magazine in 2009 ranked Pacquiao among the 100 people who most affect the world. Among his peers were Sister Mary Scullion, an advocate for the homeless in Philadelphia, and Suraya Pakzad, a women's rights activist in Afghanistan.
Trinidad and Giongco are part of a gaggle of Filipino media members who have surrounded Pacquiao every time he has stepped outside his suite this week at the Gaylord Texan.
Most arrived with the boxer on the packed 130-seat jet he chartered to carry him and his entourage here from his Los Angeles training camp on Monday night. The remainder of the jet was packed with Pacquiao's posse, which veteran boxing observers agree is the largest in the history of the sport.
After all, you never know when Pacquiao, who grew up poor, often selling doughnuts for pennies and boxing for dollar bills, may have a sudden urge.
He needs a dance instructor when the mood for a lesson hits. There is a singing coach to help with that art. There are cooks, drivers, car washers, old friends, new friends, advisers, conditioning coaches, trainers, and folks who some members of the entourage complain just tag along.
Master's touch
But there is only one indispensable member of the Pacquiao pack. That would be Freddie Roach, his boxing trainer. Pacquiao refers to Roach simply as "my master."
As a boxer, the master was a lightweight whose only strategy seemed to be stand, punch and pray that his opponent fell before he did. His fighting days finished with five losses in his last six fights, Roach latched on as an assistant to Eddie Futch, the boxing equivalent of the neighborhood house painter apprenticing with Michelangelo.
Pacquiao was already a pretty good fighter when he walked into Roach's Los Angeles gym in 2001 and asked Roach to be his new trainer. Pacquiao had won 31 of 35 bouts outside the United States and already owned the first of his major titles, the WBC flyweight (112-pound) championship. But the fighter, who relied almost exclusively on his dominant left hand, sensed he needed more if he wanted to conquer the sport in the United States. Roach agreed.
If it wasn't love at first jab, it was at least mutual respect. Roach tutored technique and preached the importance of ring strategy. He taught the importance of angles as well as the art of hitting and running. In the end, it has been a match made in boxing heaven. In their first fight together, Pacquiao won the IBF super bantamweight (122-pound) championship in Las Vegas.
Seated alongside Roach on the edge of the stage after Wednesday's final pre-fight news conference, Pacquiao spoke humbly about his trainer.
"I am lucky to have Freddie in my corner," Pacquiao said. "Together we are an organized team. We work well together."
Countered Roach, who celebrated his 50th birthday last week and is battling the ravages of Parkinson's disease: "I'm lucky to have a fighter with his talents and his ability to learn."
If left up to Roach, the Clottey fight would be the penultimate of Pacquiao's career. The trainer has only to look at the shaking in the mirror to understand the danger that taking too many punches can bring a fighter. Roach hopes Pacquiao, who appears undamaged, can beat Clottey and then take on undefeated welterweight Floyd Mayweather in a mega-fight that could be the richest in boxing history.
"Manny has worked hard in his career, very hard," Roach said. "He's been too good to leave not healthy. He started with nothing and now can live like a king the rest of his life. He could be in politics or be a singer or anything else he wants. That could truly be the happy ending for a man who reached the top from nowhere."
Pacquiao shrugged.
"My trainer has always offered good advice," he said. "I have everything to live for. I have been blessed."
MANNY PACQUIAO
Pronounced: PAK-ee-ow
Home: General Santos City, Philippines
Age: 31
Record: 50-3-2, 38 KOs
Must note: Lefthanded
Should note: Has held a piece of a world championship in a record seven weight classes.
In the ring: Has won his last 11 bouts, eight by knockout. ... Streak has included knockouts of champions Miguel Angel Cotto, Ricky Hatton and Juan Manuel Marquez. Also, he ended the career of Oscar De La Hoya. ... Voted Fighter of the Year in 2006 and 2008 by the Boxing Writers Association of America. ... Is 9-1-2 in world championship fights. Only championship loss was last defeat, to Erik Morales for the vacant WBC super featherweight title in 2005.
Source: dallasnews.com
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