HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MANNY!

By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 17 Dec 2009

Emmanuel “Manny” Dapidran Pacquiao was born December 17, 1978 in Kibawe, Bukidnon and resides in General Santos City. Christian belief holds that Emmanuel means the “Messiah” and he was born just eight days before Christmas, thus he was named as such.

True to his name Emmanuel, Manny is the “Messiah” to the deteriorating Philippine sports. He is the “Messiah” to the boxing world whose popularity is dwindling due to the rising costs of pay-per-view shows and the evident lack of talents.

Today Manny will celebrate his 31st birthday in General Santos City in the same venue where he commemorated his 30th birthday last year. It serves also a victory party for his convincing win over Miguel Cotto.

Last year during his 30th birthday bash, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo led the guests which include Freddie Roach and Bob Arum. It capped his upset win over the legendary Golden Boy Oscar de la Hoya.

More than 1,000 guests graced the occasion exactly a year ago and it was reported that P3.5 million was spent for the celebration. Other visitors include David Diaz and Edwin Valero.

If last year the focus of the celebration was his life as a boxer, this year’s theme will highlight his life as a son, father and husband. The event will feature a mini-concert which showcases Manny’s acting and singing talents. A raffle draw will be held with a Toyota Vios as a grand prize.

In his 31 years in this world, Pacquiao is already considered as one of the greatest boxer that ever lived. Among Asians, he is already the best in boxing history.

Pacquiao is the first boxer to win seven world titles in seven different weight divisions. As an added feather to his cap, he is the only boxer to win the lineal championship in four different weight classes.

He is currently the WBO world welterweight champion, the IBO and Ring Magazine light welterweight champion, and holds the most prestigious title as the Ring Magazine No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world.

The other crowns Pacquiao held were the WBC world lightweight championship, the WBC world super featherweight championship, the IBF world super bantamweight championship, and the WBC world flyweight championship.

Likewise, he once held the popular Ring Magazine featherweight and super featherweight titles being regarded as the People’s Champion.

Aside from boxing, Pacquiao had stints in politics, acting, filmmaking, and music recording. He also played basketball and billiards and is a military reservist.
Due to extreme poverty, Pacquiao received only an elementary education. He passed a high school equivalency exam and enrolled for a college degree at Notre Dame of Dadiangas University.

Pacquiao began his professional boxing career when he was just 16 years old and weighed 106 pounds, in the light flyweight category. His professional debut was a four round bout against Edmund "Enting" Ignacio, on January 22, 1995, which PacMan handily won by decision.

In all his 55 fights, he won 50 of them, 30 by KO, lost 3 with 2 KO losses, and drawn 2. He has a high 69.09% KO rate in all his wins and has boxed a total of 305 rounds. His nicknames include The PacMan, The Destroyer and The Greatest.

Source: PhilBoxing.com