The Legend of Boxing Great Manny Pacquiao
By
Bob Cox
One
of the most unlikely success stories began when the comedy show
Seinfeld was soaring to the top of the TV ratings chart, the country
was experiencing an onslaught of unsightly mullets and a congenial
governor of Arkansas was elected President of the United States. The
year was 1992 when a 14 year-old homeless and scrawny destitute high
school dropout from General
Santos City
in the Philippines, decided to fight back.
The
young man named Emmanuel
"Manny"
Dapidran
Pacquiao,
(born December 17, 1978), experienced a traumatic setback while he
was he was in sixth grade. His parents separated after his mother
discovered that his father was living with another woman. Alone with
seven children, his mother, Dionisia Dapidran-Pacquiao struggled
financially and the family quickly became accustomed to the perils of
poverty. The boy left his home at age 14 because his mother was
simply not making enough money to support her family.
After his move
to Manila,
he lived for a time on the streets.
Things
seemed to go from bad to worse when his close friend, an aspiring
boxer named Eugene Barutag died in 1995. At age 16, Pacquiao was at a
crossroads. He could’ve given up on life and packed it in. Instead,
he became more determined than ever to persevere. Pacquiao followed
in his friend’s footsteps by pursuing a career as a professional
boxer. At the demure height of 4’11 and tipping the scales at 98
pounds, he was one of the most unlikely candidates to pull off such a
feat. Pacquiao was actually 7 pounds under the minimum and resorted
to putting weights in his pockets to make the light flyweight
division of 105 pounds!
In
his first boxing match on January 22, 1995, Pacquiao won a four-round
bout against Edmund "Enting" Ignacio. He became an instant
star of the TV program called Vintage Sports Blow by Blow. Pacquiao
would go on to enjoy great success as an amateur boxer, compiling a
record of 60-4 before turning pro. He made ends meet financially when
he was accepted by the Philippine
national amateur boxing team,
where his room and board were paid for by the government.
Over
the next 20 plus years, Pacquiao would go on to achieve extraordinary
success. He is considered to be one of the greatest boxers of all
time. He is the only eight-division
world champion and has won ten world titles. He was named
"Fighter
of the Decade" (2000-2009) by the Boxing
Writers Association of America, World
Boxing Council and World
Boxing Organization. He is a bona fide rags-to-riches story as he
was the second highest paid athlete in the world in 2015, according
to Forbes.
Outside
the boxing ring, Pacquiao has enjoyed success in business, acting,
professional basketball, music recording, the military and politics.
In May 2010, Pacquiao was
elected to the House
of Representatives in the 15th
Congress of the Philippines, representing the province of
Sarangani and
was re-elected in 2013 to the 16th
Congress of the Philippines.
The
married father of five children decided to exorcise the final demon
from his past by picking up where he left off in school. He would go
on to pass a high school equivalency exam in 2007 and was awarded
with a high school diploma by the Department
of Education.
Pacquiao enrolled for a college degree in business management at
Notre
Dame of Dadiangas University
(NDDU) in his hometown in General Santos City and in 2009 received
the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humanities (Honoris Causa) by
Southwestern
University
(SWU) in recognition of his boxing achievements and humanitarian
work.
With all this behind the kid
from General Santos City, what will he do for an encore? Whatever it
is, we can’t be too surprised.
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