The glory that Manny Pacquiao has today was paid for with blood and tears of years of hardship and poverty.
Emmanuel “Manny” Dapidran Pacquiao was born on December 17, 1978, in Minandon Island, Philippines. He was born into a poor family and had to work hard to make ends meet. When he was in elementary school, his parents divorced. That forced “Pacman” to drop out of school and help his mother sell bread. At the age of 14, young Pacquiao decided to switch to boxing, hoping to change his life.
After years of hard training, at the age of 16, Pacquiao had his first match against Edmund Ignacio in 1995. This is a photo of the boxer at his gym in Manila in early 1996. Before that, this boxer often “earned a living” by fighting at the “village” level. The prize for the winner of those matches was only 3 USD, enough for him to live on and nurture his passion for martial arts.
When he first started his career, Pacquiao was just a skinny kid. Some organizers were even afraid to let “Pacman” fight because they were afraid he wouldn’t be able to handle the heat. This boxer once revealed that he had to “cheat” his weight to participate in a martial arts tournament. In 1998, Pacquiao had his first success when he defeated Chatchai Sasakul of Thailand in a flyweight tournament.
With his determination, Pacquiao gradually affirmed his name in the world boxing village. In 2003, he won The Ring’s Featherweight after defeating Mexican boxer, Marco Antonio Barrera in Texas.
Also in 2003, Pacquiao defeated Emmanuel Lucero in the IBF featherweight title match in California (USA). Thanks to these titles, he was chosen as the Philippine Athlete of the Year 2003.
Pacquiao’s 2008 welterweight victory over Oscar De La Hoya catapulted him to new heights. The organizers are estimated to have earned $70 million from the fight.
In the same year, Pacquiao defeated two boxers Manuel Marqurez (Mexico) and David Diaz (USA) to capture two WBC titles in the featherweight and lightweight categories.
Pacquiao knocked out British boxer Ricky Hatton in just two rounds in a welterweight match in 2009.
Also in 2009, he knocked out Miguel Cotto to win the WBO welterweight title.
Also this year, Pacquiao captured the WBC welterweight championship after defeating opponent Antonio Margarito in a match in Texas.
He was awarded the “Fighter of the Decade” award by the USA Boxing Association. A bronze statue of Pacquiao was placed in the suburbs of Pasay City (Manila) in 2010.
In addition to fighting, Pacquiao has also ventured into politics. In 2010, he was elected to the House of Representatives in the 15th Congress of the Philippines.
2012 did not go smoothly for Pacquiao when he suffered consecutive defeats against Timothy Bradley (USA) and Juan Manuel Marquez (Mexico) in welterweight matches.
Aside from boxing, Pacquiao also plays basketball. He played for Kia Sorento and became the oldest player and the shortest player in the Philippine Basketball League.
Pacquiao is also the owner of the Hotel Warriors soccer team that plays in the PBA D-League.
This boxer is quite versatile as he also acted in the films Lisensyadong Kamao (2005) and Anak ng Kumander (2008). In 2014, he starred in the film about his life called “Manny”. In this photo, Pacquiao and his wife attend the premiere of “Manny” in California in 2015.
Pacquiao also released 2 music albums with the collaboration of many famous artists in the Philippines.
Pacquiao in the boxing classic match with Mayweather in 2015. This was a match that “Pacman” lost but he still won many hearts, with his dedicated playing style. Recently, there is news that Pacquiao could return, fighting Mc Gregor in another classic battle.
