Manny Pacquiao: 30 things you didn’t know about him

[kaibigan 8]

By Gareth A Davies, Boxing Correspondent

Last Updated: 4:53PM BST 01 May 2009

His name is Emmanuel 'Manny' Dapidran Pacquiao.

Pacquiao owns fighting cocks

Sylvester Stallone wants to act alongside him in a movie

His fourth child – a daughter named Queen Elizabeth (or 'Queenie') – has dual nationality as she was born in the US. The infant also has 48 godparents

He plays ‘Manny Pacquiao’ in a soap opera in The Philippines

A close friend says “He’s a terrible actor”.

He is the only Filipino boxer to appear on a postage stamp

He carried the flag for The Philippines at the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games

He has had three hit ‘singles’ in The Philippines

He gives education scholarships for 250 children through his foundation

He has had the titles ‘National Fist’ and ‘National Treasure’ bestowed upon him by the Philippines government

There have been kidnap threats on his children

It is written into Philippine law that the army will go to Pacquiao's aid if his family is in danger.

He is a close friend of President Gloria Arroyo, and was visited by Bill Clinton this week

He trains for his fights up until one day before he goes into the ring

In 14 years as a professional, Pacquiao has won world titles in four weight divisions – from 7st 8lb to 9st 9lb, at flyweight, super bantamweight, super featherweight and lightweight. He has also fought at the 10st 7lb limit.

In a Time magazine online poll to find the 100 most influential people of 2009, Pacquiao has so far garnered more than 20 million votes.

His early life was spent living in a shanty town, sleeping on cardboard boxes.

In 1990, he witnessed James 'Buster' Douglas defeat the seemingly invincible Mike Tyson in Tokyo – Pacquiao's first encounter with boxing, which led him to dream of a career in the ring.

He made his first punchbag out of a cardboard box stuffed with clothes

He has worked as a gardener and construction worker, and sold donuts and iced water on the streets.

He turned professional at 17, and became a rising star on a televised weekly boxing show in the Philippines called Blow by Blow.

He won the World Boxing Council flyweight belt in Thailand, against Chatchai Sasakul, in December 1998, at the age of 19.

He first fought at the MGM Grand in 2001 a late replacement against the International Boxing Federation super bantamweight champion Lehlohonolo 'Hands of Stone' Ledwaba. Pacquiao stopped the South African Ledwaba in the sixth round.

Since 2001 only four of Pacquiao's 18 fights have taken place in his native country, with half of them in Vegas, the world's fight capital.

He has a Jack Russell terrier - with whom he shares the nickname 'Pacman'. The dog comes with him on training runs. When he was younger, his pet dog was cooked and eaten by a friend of his father’s.

Pacquiao lives in a presidential-style mansion in General Santos City, Mindanao, with his wife, Jinkee, and their four children. The compound is manned 24/7 by armed security guards.

Last September he was sworn in as a member of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's Free Filipino party.

On May 17 2007 Pacquiao was defeated in the congressional elections by Darlene Antonino-Custodio, running for the Nationalist People's Coalition, who received 139,061 votes to Pacquiao's 75,908.

He intends to run for congress in The Philippines in 2010.

[kaibigan 8]

obviously i'm not a manny pacquiao fanatic!

hehehe...one way to make myself busy..

m always proud to be pinoy!

[annaprice 17]

By Gareth A Davies, Boxing Correspondent

Last Updated: 4:53PM BST 01 May 2009

His name is Emmanuel 'Manny' Dapidran Pacquiao.

Pacquiao owns fighting cocks

Sylvester Stallone wants to act alongside him in a movie

His fourth child – a daughter named Queen Elizabeth (or 'Queenie') – has dual nationality as she was born in the US. The infant also has 48 godparents

He plays ‘Manny Pacquiao’ in a soap opera in The Philippines

A close friend says “He’s a terrible actor”.

He is the only Filipino boxer to appear on a postage stamp

He carried the flag for The Philippines at the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games

He has had three hit ‘singles’ in The Philippines

He gives education scholarships for 250 children through his foundation

He has had the titles ‘National Fist’ and ‘National Treasure’ bestowed upon him by the Philippines government

There have been kidnap threats on his children

It is written into Philippine law that the army will go to Pacquiao's aid if his family is in danger.

He is a close friend of President Gloria Arroyo, and was visited by Bill Clinton this week

He trains for his fights up until one day before he goes into the ring

In 14 years as a professional, Pacquiao has won world titles in four weight divisions – from 7st 8lb to 9st 9lb, at flyweight, super bantamweight, super featherweight and lightweight. He has also fought at the 10st 7lb limit.

In a Time magazine online poll to find the 100 most influential people of 2009, Pacquiao has so far garnered more than 20 million votes.

His early life was spent living in a shanty town, sleeping on cardboard boxes.

In 1990, he witnessed James 'Buster' Douglas defeat the seemingly invincible Mike Tyson in Tokyo – Pacquiao's first encounter with boxing, which led him to dream of a career in the ring.

He made his first punchbag out of a cardboard box stuffed with clothes

He has worked as a gardener and construction worker, and sold donuts and iced water on the streets.

He turned professional at 17, and became a rising star on a televised weekly boxing show in the Philippines called Blow by Blow.

He won the World Boxing Council flyweight belt in Thailand, against Chatchai Sasakul, in December 1998, at the age of 19.

He first fought at the MGM Grand in 2001 a late replacement against the International Boxing Federation super bantamweight champion Lehlohonolo 'Hands of Stone' Ledwaba. Pacquiao stopped the South African Ledwaba in the sixth round.

Since 2001 only four of Pacquiao's 18 fights have taken place in his native country, with half of them in Vegas, the world's fight capital.

He has a Jack Russell terrier - with whom he shares the nickname 'Pacman'. The dog comes with him on training runs. When he was younger, his pet dog was cooked and eaten by a friend of his father’s.

Pacquiao lives in a presidential-style mansion in General Santos City, Mindanao, with his wife, Jinkee, and their four children. The compound is manned 24/7 by armed security guards.

Last September he was sworn in as a member of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's Free Filipino party.

On May 17 2007 Pacquiao was defeated in the congressional elections by Darlene Antonino-Custodio, running for the Nationalist People's Coalition, who received 139,061 votes to Pacquiao's 75,908.

He intends to run for congress in The Philippines in 2010.

he is also the first filipino nike endorser/spokesperson

[CuriousGuy 0]

All I know is, that smackdown he put on the Limey last night was SPECTACULOR!

[spartan 2]

He already stopped ####### fighting hobby and sold all his roosters.

[maritoni 3]

He also owns the airport yellow taxis...

[tallcoolone 102]

His wife has had a lot of cosmetic surgery

She looks a lot different than she did years ago.........

[cEzYcHiC 0]

He is really rich with all of the money he's winning in his fights.

I think he'd better give some for those people who can't bet on his fights.. Haha!

[Rocky_nBullwinkle 6]

His wife has had a lot of cosmetic surgery

She looks a lot different than she did years ago.........

If my memory serves me right, there was this girl claiming that se and Pacman had a dalliance at one point in his life and she got pregnant. They have a son. I wonder what ever happened to that girl and their son?

Edited May 4, 2009 by Rocky_nBullwinkle

[kaibigan 8]

cool!!!!

thank you guys for contributing additional informations!

[kaibigan 8]

Lot to like about the new king of boxing

By TIM DAHLBERG, AP Sports Columnist 9 hours, 15 minutes ago

LAS VEGAS (AP)—Floyd Mayweather Jr. took his daughter bowling Saturday night after announcing his return to the ring. Good thing, because if he had seen Manny Pacquiao fight he might have figured out what boxing fans now know—that the future of boxing lies in the furious fists of a most unlikely new superstar.

Had he been watching, Mayweather might have been as stunned at what he saw as his estranged father seemed to be in Ricky Hatton’s corner. Fighters just aren’t supposed to do the kind of things Pacquiao did to Hatton in 5 minutes and 59 seconds of utter domination before a thrilled crowd at the MGM Grand hotel.

All Mayweather can do now is get in line. The road to greatness now runs through a fighter who truly does let his fists do the talking.

“If Mayweather wants a piece of the little Filipino, just be my guest,” promoter Bob Arum crowed when it was all over.

That’s not likely to happen right away, but the odds are good it will happen eventually. There’s too much money involved for it not to.

But give Pacquiao Round 1 already. On a day when Mayweather tried to steal his thunder by unretiring, Pacquiao went into the ring and showed why he is the most exciting thing to happen to boxing in a long, long time.

He didn’t just beat Hatton. Didn’t just knock him out.

He demolished a world class fighter who had never lost at his natural weight of 140 pounds, and he did it with such precision and ease that the talk afterward wasn’t whether Pacquiao is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, but whether he might be one of the best ever.

A right hook—a punch most southpaws don’t even have—started it all, dropping Hatton midway through the first round. A left cross that may be one of the greatest single punches ever thrown in a big fight ended it with a dramatic flourish.

When it was over, Hatton was sprawled motionless on his back in the center of the ring. Pacquiao and his corner were celebrating and the sellout crowd was trying to digest what they had just seen.

And Mayweather was at a bowling alley somewhere trying to pick up a spare.

A few hours earlier, Mayweather had declared that “The king is back” and said he was ready to reclaim his title as the best pound-for-pound fighter. But boxing has a new king in an unassuming fighter so good that he won his last four fights in four different weight classes.

It’s a remarkable story even in a sport where tales of rags-to-riches are commonplace. There was a time when Pacquiao lived in a cardboard shack in his native Philippines, and there didn’t seem anything special about him when he fought his first fight there at 106 pounds in 1995.

But he began growing and started knocking people out. He hooked up with trainer Freddie Roach and learned how to use his right hand as well as his left.

He sent Oscar De La Hoya into retirement, and may have done the same to Hatton.

And he’s such a hero at home that there’s talk of him running for president.

Boxing fans have responded by embracing Pacquiao, filling every seat at the MGM Grand and spending $49.95 for the pay-per-view to watch him fight from home. With good reason, because he gives fight fans what they want to see.

While Mayweather plays the villain with great success, Pacquiao comes across as a humble fighter who cares about nothing except doing his job, then getting together with his band as he did after stopping Hatton to make some music. He’s fairly fluent in English and makes a point of speaking it instead of relying on a translator, and he acts like a professional in everything he does in boxing.

Most importantly, though, he comes to fight. Oh, does he come to fight.

“He has the opportunity to become the best I’ve ever promoted,” said Arum, who promoted Muhammad Ali and Marvelous Marvin Hagler among others. “Other fights reach a certain level and they think they know everything and never get better. Not Manny. He’s always learning.”

Pacquiao brought his mother over from the Philippines for her first trip to the United States, but she couldn’t bear to watch her son fight. Instead, she stayed in a hotel suite praying for his success and health.

The rest of us were watching closely, though.

And there was a lot to like about what we saw in the new king of boxing.

Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg@ap.org

[chinese_mutt 11]

i hope he doesn't win the congress seat!

i'm all for the boxer pacman, but as a politician? come on!!!