The streets of the Philippines will be quiet on Sunday morning as a nation sits down to watch its hero. When Manny Pacquiao boxes, nothing else is important. Crime stops, shops close, even the guns fall silent in the continuing insurgency.
Pacquiao has had a remarkable career. A man who began boxing as a light-flyweight has won four world titles and dominated in divisions right up to welterweight, in which he beat Oscar De La Hoya in December. But his life story is even better. As a boy he lived on the streets and he is seemingly destined to be his country’s president one day. In the meantime, he uses his wealth to help his countrymen.
“The Philippines has a great social welfare system and it is called Manny Pacquiao,” Bob Arum, his promoter, said. “He has easily given away $10 million and perhaps $20 million. I can’t put a figure on it, but huge amounts — hospital beds, scholarships. He is a one-man welfare system.
“Telling him to stop is like telling someone they shouldn’t pray as much. This is not p***ing money away. He is doing good with the money. Other people come up from poverty and forget everything, he hasn’t.”
Pacquiao is hero-worshipped by his countrymen. Everywhere he goes, Filipinos throng to catch a glimpse of the small man with the ever-present smile. On a promotional trip to London in March, hundreds turned out to watch him take Mass at Westminster Cathedral.
When he challenges Ricky Hatton for his Ring magazine and IBO light-welterweight titles here tomorrow night — Sunday morning in the Philippines — life will stop in his homeland, even the skirmishes between government forces and Islamic insurgents.
“The whole country will watch,” Pacquiao said. “When I fight there is no crime, no traffic, you cannot see a car outside. There is a ceasefire for one day to watch the fight.” His compatriots will see the benefit of the minimum $12 million that he will be paid. “Everyone knows what life is like in the Philippines,” Pacquiao, 30, added. “There are a lot of poor people and they need help. I want to win this fight for the Filipino people, to inspire them.”
And one day he could lead them. Next year he intends to run for Congress in his country. He ran once before, but his defeat was blamed by most people on voters fearing he would retire from boxing if elected to office. When asked if one day he will be his country’s president, he giggles. “Step by step,” he said. “I have a few fights more and that’s that.”
Pacquiao has been joined in his preparations this week by Amir Khan, who is also trained by Freddie Roach and who had come to Las Vegas to begin the camp for his challenge for Andreas Kotelnik’s WBA lightwelterweight title in London on June 27.
“Manny is looking strong, he’s in the best shape I’ve seen him,” Khan said. “Sometimes when he was training to fight Oscar, he never used to get up in the morning, he used to miss training. But he knows this is a tough fight and he’s trained a lot harder.
“I saw Ricky training the other day and he looked so strong and so quick, the best I’ve seen him for a long time. I think he can cause an upset.
“I know the odds are against him, but I think he can beat Manny. What he mustn’t do is start off slow and let Manny win the first few rounds. That would leave Ricky chasing the fight and he would then get caught with stupid shots. It’s a 50-50 fight.”
Khan said he is grateful that neither boxer has pressed him to take sides. “I’m sort of in the middle because I’m friends with both fighters, and what’s good is that Ricky hasn’t asked me what Manny’s doing in training and Manny hasn’t asked me anything about what Ricky is doing,” Khan said. “I’ve got a lot respect for them because of that.
“Both fighters are very alike. They’re both funny. They never take things seriously. They are always having a joke. But when they get in that ring, Manny is going to try and knock his head off and Ricky is going to try and do the same to him.”
Source: timesonline.co.uk
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