Manny Pacquiao Biography

Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao was born December 17, 1978, more commonly known as Manny Pacquiao, is a Filipino. He is currently the WBO World welterweight champion, IBO and Ring Magazine light welterweight champion, and is rated by Ring Magazine as the No.1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world.

He is also the former WBC World lightweight champion, WBC World super featherweight champion, IBF World super bantamweight champion, and WBC World flyweight champion. Furthermore, he is the former Ring Magazine featherweight and super featherweight champion.

The Filipino boxing superstar is the first boxer to win seven world titles in seven different weight divisions. In addition, he is the only boxer to win the lineal championship (“the man who beat the man”) in four different weight classes. Aside from being a boxer, Pacquiao has participated in politics, acting, filmmaking, and music recording.

Personal Life – Pacquiao was born in Kibawe, Bukidnon, Mindanao and currently resides in his home town General Santos City, South Cotabato, Philippines. He is married to Jinkee Pacquiao, and they have four children. Pacquiao received only an elementary school education. Recently, he took a high school equivalency exam, which he passed, and enrolled for a college degree at Notre Dame of Dadiangas University. He is also a military reservist with the rank of sergeant major.

Early Boxing Career – Pacquiao started his professional boxing career when he was just 16 years of age and weighed 106 pounds (light flyweight). His early fights took place in small local venues and were shown on Vintage Sports’ Blow by Blow, an evening boxing show. His professional debut was a four round bout against Edmund “Enting” Ignacio, on January 22, 1995, which Pacquiao won via decision, becoming an instant star of the program. Close friend Mark Penaflorida’s death in 1994 spurred the young Pacquiao to pursue a professional boxing career.

His weight increased from 106 to 113 pounds, before losing in his twelfth bout against Rustico Torrecampo via a third round knockout. Pacquiao had not made the weight, so he was forced to use heavier gloves than Torrecampo, thereby putting him at a disadvantage.

Shortly after the Torrecampo fight, Pacquiao settled at 112 pounds, winning the WBC World flyweight title (his first major boxing world title as well as the flyweight lineal title) over Chatchai Sasakul by way of knockout in the eighth round. However, Pacquiao lost the title in his second defense against Medgoen Singsurat, also known as Medgoen 3K Battery, via a third round knockout. The bout was held in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand. Technically, Pacquiao lost the belt at the scales, as he surpassed the weight limit of 112 pounds.

Following his loss to Singsurat, Pacquiao gained weight anew. This time, Pacquiao went to the super bantamweight division of 122 pounds, where he picked up the WBC International super bantamweight title. He defended this title five times before his chance for a world title fight came.

Pacquiao’s big break came on June 23, 2001, against former IBF World super bantamweight champion Lehlohonolo Ledwaba. Pacquiao stepped into the fight as a late replacement and won the fight by technical knockout to become the new IBF World super bantamweight champion (his second major boxing world title). The bout was held at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao went on to defend this title four times, aided by his expert training from Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym.

First Fight With Barrera – On November 15, 2003, Pacquiao faced Marco Antonio Barrera at the Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, in a fight that many consider to have defined his career. Pacquiao, moving up in weight and in his first fight ever in the featherweight division, brought his power with him and defeated Barrera via technical knockout in the eleventh round.

Although this bout was not recognized as a title fight by any sanctioning bodies, after his victory Pacquiao was crowned Ring Magazine featherweight champion (as well as the lineal featherweight champion), and he held that title until relinquishing it in 2005.

First Fight With Márquez – Six months after Pacquiao’s win over Mexican legend Barrera, Pacquiao went on to challenge another highly respected Mexican boxer in Juan Manuel Márquez, who at the time held both the World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) World featherweight titles. The fight took place at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, on May 8, 2004, and after twelve rounds the bout was scored a draw, which proved to be a controversial decision that outraged both camps.

In the first round Márquez was caught cold, as he was knocked down three times by a more lively Pacquiao. However, Márquez showed great heart to recover from the early knockdowns, and went on to win the majority of rounds thereafter. This was largely due to Márquez’s counterpunch style, which he managed to effectively utilize against the aggressive style of Pacquiao. At the end of a very close fight, the final scores were 115–110 for Márquez, 115–110 for Pacquiao, and 113–113. One of the judges (who scored the bout 113–113) later admitted to making an error on the scorecards, because he had scored the first round as “10–7″ in favor of Pacquiao instead of the standard “10–6″ for a three-knockdown round. Consequently, both parties felt they had done enough to win the fight.

First Fight With Morales - Pacquiao once again moved up in weight class, from 126 to 130 pounds, to fight another Mexican legend, three division world champion Érik Morales. The fight took place on March 19, 2005, at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. However, this time around, in his first fight at super featherweight, Pacquiao lost the twelve round match by a unanimous decision from the judges.

WBC International Super Featherweight Title – On September 10, 2005, Manny Pacquiao fought Héctor Velázquez at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. He knocked Velázquez out in six rounds to capture the WBC International super featherweight title, which he went on to defend five times. On the same day, his rival, Erik Morales, fought against Zahir Raheem. However, Morales fought a lackluster performance, losing to Raheem via unanimous decision.

Second fight With Morales – The much anticipated rematch between Pacquiao and Morales happened on January 21, 2006, at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas. During the fight, Morales escaped being knocked down twice, once during the second round by holding onto the ropes, and once in the sixth round by falling on the referee’s body. Pacquiao eventually knocked Morales out in the tenth round, which was the first time Morales had been knocked out in his boxing career.

Oscar Larios – On July 2, 2006, Pacquiao successfully defended his WBC International super featherweight title against Óscar Larios, a two-time super bantamweight champion, who had moved up two weight divisions in order to challenge Pacquiao. Pacquiao won the fight via unanimous decision, knocking down Larios two times during the twelve round bout, which was held at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Philippines. The three judges scored the fight at 117-110, 118-108, and 120-106, all in favor of Pacquiao.

Third fight with Morales – Pacquiao and Morales fought for a third time (with the series tied 1-1) on November 18, 2006. Witnessed by a near record crowd of 18,276, the match saw Pacquiao defeating Morales via a third round knockout at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

After the Pacquiao–Morales rubber match, Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s main promoter, announced that Manny had returned his signing bonus check back to Golden Boy Promotions, signaling intentions to stay with Top Rank. This resulted in Golden Boy Promotions’ decision to sue Pacquiao over contractual breaches.

At the end of 2006, he was named by both HBO and Ring Magazine as the “Fighter of the Year”, with HBO also naming him as the most exciting fighter of the year.

Jorge Solis – After a failed promotional negotiation with Marco Antonio Barrera’s camp, Bob Arum chose Jorge Solís as Pacquiao’s next opponent among several fighters that Arum offered him to fight as a replacement. The bout was held in San Antonio, Texas, on April 14, 2007. In the sixth round of the bout, an accidental headbutt occurred, giving Pacquiao a cut under his left eyebrow. The fight ended in the eighth round when Pacquiao knocked Solis down twice; with Solis barely beating the count after the second knockdown, the referee (who was also a doctor) was prompted to stop the fight. The victory raised Pacquiao’s win–loss–draw record to 44–3–2, with 34 knockouts.

Rematch with Barrera – On June 29, 2007, it was announced that Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions agreed to settle their lawsuit, meaning the long-awaited rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera would occur despite being the #1 contender for the super featherweight title of Juan Manuel Márquez.

Since Bob Arum was out on a vacation, Golden Boy Promotions chief executive, Richard Schaefer, politely declined to discuss Pacquiao’s purse for the October 6, 2007, rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera (at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas). However, Pacquiao was likely to get a purse of 5 million dollars, plus possibly a share of the pay-per-view rights. Pacquiao defeated Barrera in their rematch via an easy unanimous decision. In the eleventh round, Pacquiao’s punch caused a deep cut under Barrera’s right eye. Barrera retaliated with an illegal punch on the break that dazed Pacquiao but also caused the referee to deduct a point from Barrera. Two judges scored the bout 118–109, whereas the third scored it 115–112.

Other events – In The Ring Magazine, Pacquiao (45–3–2) remained at the top of the junior lightweight division (130 pounds). He had been in the ratings for 108 weeks. Pacquiao was also at No. 2 in the pound-for-pound category behind former welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr.

On November 13, 2007, he was honored by the WBC as Champ Emeritus during its 45th Annual World Convention held at the Manila Hotel.

On November 20, 2007, José Nuñez, manager of WBO super featherweight champion Joan Guzmán, accused Pacquiao’s handler Bob Arum of evading a match between the two boxers to protect Pacquiao. Guzmán went as far as to directly call out Pacquiao at the postfight press conference of the Pacquiao–Barrera rematch in front of a stunned crowd at the Mandalay Bay Events Center’s media room in Las Vegas.

The 240 member House of Representatives of the Philippines, on August 7, 2008, issued a Resolution, sponsored by South Cotabato Rep. Darlene Antonino-Custodio, which recognized Pacquiao as “a people’s champ” — “for his achievements and in appreciation of the honor and inspiration he has been bringing… to the Filipino people.” He received a plaque from Speaker Prospero Nograles.

On July, 2008, it was announced that Pacquiao would be the flag bearer of the Philippines at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He became the first Filipino Olympic non-participant to be Team Philippines’ flag-bearer during the August 8 opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics at the Beijing National Stadium. Swimmer Miguel Molina, 2005 Southeast Asian Games’ Best Male Athlete, yielded the honor to Pacquiao, upon Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s request to national sports officials on the Philippines at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Rematch With Marquez – On March 15, 2008, in a rematch against Juan Manuel Márquez called “Unfinished Business”, Pacquiao won via a disputed split decision. The fight was held at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. With victory, Pacquiao won the WBC and Ring Magazine super featherweight belts (as well as the lineal junior lightweight title), making him the first Filipino to win three major world titles in three different weight divisions (Pacquiao was a former WBC flyweight champion and former IBF super bantamweight champion). However, with his Ring Magazine featherweight belt, Pacquiao had de facto won four world titles in four different weight classes at this point.

The fight was a close hard fought battle, during which both fighters received cuts. Throughout the fight Márquez landed the most punches at a higher percentage; however, the decisive factor proved to be a third round knockdown, wherein Márquez was floored by a Pacquiao left hook. At the end of the fight, the judges’ scores were 115-112 for Pacquiao, 115-112 for Márquez, and 114-113 for Pacquiao.

In the post-fight press conference, Márquez’s camp called for an immediate rematch. In addition, Richard Schaefer, Golden Boy Promotions CEO, offered a 6 million dollar guarantee to Pacquiao for a rematch. However, Pacquiao ruled out a third clash with Márquez, stating: “I don’t think so. This business is over.” The reason that Pacquiao did not want a rematch was because he intended to move up to the lightweight division, in order to challenge David Díaz, the reigning WBC World lightweight champion at that time. Díaz won the majority decision over Ramón Montano that night as an undercard of the “Unfinished Business” fight.

WBC Lightweight title – On June 28, 2008, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Pacquiao defeated David Díaz via ninth round knockout, to become the WBC World lightweight champion. With the victory, Pacquiao became the only Filipino and Asian boxer to win five world titles in five different weight classes, and also became the first Filipino fighter to ever win a world title at lightweight. During the fight, which Pacquiao dominated, Díaz was cut badly on his right eye in the fourth round. After the bout, Díaz acknowledged Pacquiao’s superior hand speed, stating: “It was his speed. It was all his speed. I could see the punches perfectly, but he was just too fast.”

Bob Arum reported that the fight had made 12.5 million dollars (250,000 pay-per-view subscriptions at $49.95 each), earning Díaz his best payday of 850,000 dollars, whilst Pacquiao earned at least 3 million dollars. Official records revealed an attendance of 8,362 (out of a maximum capacity of 12,000).

Holding both the WBC super featherweight and lightweight titles following the win, Pacquiao decided to vacate his super featherweight title in July 2008.

Pacquiao vs. De La Hoya - On December 6, 2008, Pacquiao faced Oscar De La Hoya at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, in a fight called “The Dream Match”. Pacquiao dominated the fight for eight rounds, forcing De La Hoya’s corner to throw in the towel before the start of the ninth round, awarding Pacquiao the win via technical knockout.

Pacquiao was ahead on all three judges’ scorecards before the stoppage, with two judges scoring the fight at 80-71 and one scoring it at 79-72. Moreover, Pacquiao landed 224 out of 585 punches, whilst De La Hoya landed only 83 out of 402 punches. After the bout, trainer Freddie Roach stated: “We knew we had him after the first round. He had no legs, he was hesitant and he was shot.” The fight would be De La Hoya’s last, as he announced his retirement from boxing shortly after.

Presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank, the bout was scheduled as a twelve round, non-title fight contested at the 147 pound welterweight limit. Although Pacquiao went into the fight widely recognized as the leading pound-for-pound boxer in the world, some boxing pundits had speculated that 147 pounds could be too far above his natural weight against the larger De La Hoya.

Pacquiao received 15 to 30 million dollars (share of the pay-per-view), plus a guaranteed amount. Tickets reportedly sold out just hours after they went on sale. Moreover, the total gate revenue for the fight was said to be nearly 17 million dollars, making it the second largest gate revenue in boxing history.

Pacquiao vs. Hatton – On May 2, 2009, Pacquiao defeated Ricky Hatton to claim the IBO and Ring Magazine light welterweight titles (as well as the lineal light welterweight title), at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, in a fight billed as “The Battle of the East and West”.

The fight was originally placed in jeopardy due to disputes with both camps over the fight purse money. Eventually, the money issue was settled and the fight went on as scheduled. HBO aired the contest.

Pacquiao started the fight strong, knocking down a sluggish Hatton twice in the first round. A somewhat shaken Hatton beat the count, only to be saved by the bell seconds later. In the second round Hatton seemed to have recovered, as he stalked Pacquiao for most of the round. However, with less than ten seconds remaining in the second round, Hatton was knocked out cold by a sharp left hook, prompting the referee to award Pacquiao the win by knockout (at 2:59 of the round).

Pacquiao v Cotto – On November 14, 2009, Pacquiao defeated Miguel Cotto via technical knockout in the twelfth round, at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, in a fight billed as “Firepower”.

With this victory, Pacquiao took the WBO World welterweight title, to become the first fighter in boxing history to win seven world titles in seven different weight divisions. After the fight, promoter Bob Arum stated: “Pacquiao is the greatest boxer I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen them all, including Ali, Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard.”

The fight generated 1.25 million buys and 70 million dollars in domestic pay-per-view revenue, making it the most watched boxing event of 2009. Pacquiao earned around 22 million dollars for his part in the fight, whilst Cotto earned around 12 million dollars. Pacquiao–Cotto also generated a live gate of $8,847,550 from an official crowd of 15,930.

Political Career – Pacquiao has said he will enter politics after he ends his boxing career. He quietly visited the Philippine Commission on Elections, escorted by Arnold “Ali” Atienza (son of then-Manila Mayor Lito Atienza), to transfer his residence from General Santos City to Manila. This fueled speculations that he may seek an elective post in the nation’s capital, which even gave him the title “Adopted Son” after he won his earlier bouts.

His name was once mentioned as a possible vice-mayoralty candidate to the younger Atienza when the latter sought the city’s highest post in the 2007 elections, but this did not pan out after Sen. Panfilo Lacson, then the leading candidate for Manila mayor, backed out for contentions regarding Lacson’s residency issues (in which Pacquiao also had such issues).

Being known as an Arroyo supporter, his name is also being floated as a candidate of the Lakas-CMD party for the mayoralty race of General Santos City against incumbent Mayor Pedro Acharon. Instead, he was recently sworn-in as a member of the Liberal Party under the Atienza wing, thus further fueling his political ambition.

On February 12, 2007, the famed boxer announced that he was running for congress representing South Cotabato. His decision however easily turned off both his fans and the general public. Election experts stressed that as Pacquiao insists on participating in his next professional boxing match, he will immerse himself into a legal conflict regarding campaign exposure, especially since the match will be televised nationwide. Aside from that, COMELEC commissioner Benjamin Abalos mentioned a possible legal entanglement could ruin Pacquiao’s candidacy because he already registered himself as a Manila resident months before.

Numerous sports personalities and analysts around the Philippines expressed that Pacquiao should think seriously and deeply about his sports career, which could potentially be destroyed by the dirty world of politics. On February 24, 2007, in Cebu City, Pacquiao was booed by thousands of spectators as his presence was acknowledged by the organizers of The Battle of Cebu, a WBO-sanctioned boxing festival. The embarrassment later led to confusing statements made by then-Manila Mayor Lito Atienza that the famed fighter would withdraw. The negative sentiment among Cebuanos over Pacquiao’s political aspiration was felt even before the “The Battle of Cebu” was held because at least one citizen’s comment got published by local newspaper Sun Star.

In relation to the Pacquiao’s April 14 fight with Jorge Solis, the political opposition stated that they would not press for a ban on the broadcasting of the match despite its potential to violate election campaign rules. Although he won over Solis, Pacquiao’s appeal diminished most likely due to his political ambition. His last fight attracted noticeably smaller audiences, and his performance was considered by many as disappointing. Some election candidates even turned the Pacquiao–Solis match into campaign gigs. Over at General Santos City, Diocese of Marbel spokesman Fr. Angel Buenavides considered President Arroyo’s endorsement of Pacquiao as a “curse” because constituents in the area have strong anti-Arroyo sentiments.