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Doug Fischer

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Manny Pacquiao: The Idol Reports for Duty
By Doug Fischer (March 22, 2007) Photo © Chris Farina, TOP RANK

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The conference room inside The Palm Restaurant in West Hollywood where the Los Angeles-area boxing press assembled to meet Manny Pacquiao Wednesday afternoon was small and cramped.

There was barely enough room for the working media let alone the usual autograph seekers and assorted vagabonds who show up to these kinds of press luncheons. By the time former WBC flyweight titlist Brian Viloria and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., both of whom will fight on the undercard of the April 14th pay-per-view event that Pacquiao is headlining, made their way to their assigned seats just getting up to use the restroom or sample some of the excellent food the steakhouse is known for was next to impossible.

Despite the lack of elbow room, nobody left before the former three-division champ that some pundits consider to be the best fighter in the world, pound for pound, had arrived. Claustrophobia be damned, Pacquiao is worth waiting for.

So what if he’s fighting an unknown fighter, Jorge Solis, in San Antonio, Texas?

So what if he’s a little late? So what if he doesn’t really have much to say other than “Thank you for being here”? He’s Manny Pacquiao! He’s a star; one of the few active fighters who actually lives up to that designation.

Diehard fight fans recognize Pacquiao as an elite boxer who gives a 100% effort and delivers a compelling fight EVERY time he laces on a pair of gloves. To these fanatics, Pacquiao epitomizes the word “Warrior”.

But Pacquiao’s influence goes far beyond the boxing universe. To people from the Philippines, he is more than an athlete, more than a boxer, more than a champion, more than a warrior.

To them Many Pacquiao is an idol.

There’s no other way to describe the relationship. He is absolutely idolized in the Philippines.

Pacquiao is as popular in the Philippines now as Muhammad Ali was (and continues to be) in the U.S. When Pacquiao fights, damn near everyone in the country stops what they are doing and takes notice, just as fans in Mexico faithfully followed every move Julio Cesar Chavez made during his prime years, or they way Puerto Rican fans in New York City and Puerto Rico literally celebrated every time Felix Trinidad fought for a hot period between ’99 and 2001.

Every now and then, certainly not very often, a bona fide icon emerges from the worlds of politics, entertainment or sports. Once, maybe twice, a decade one is born out of boxing. Icons are necessary for the sport’s survival as they not only have the ability to galvanize the game when it has become stagnant but also the power to bring in new fans.

Pacquiao says his popularity – with both hardcore fans and people from his country who may have never paid attention to the sport before – is due to a combination of two things.

“My style in the ring and my humbleness outside of it,” he told reporters after the presser. “I’m a fighter in the ring, I am a winner, but when the fight is over, I’m just like anyone else. A lot of people change when they get like me, when they get fame and money. I’m the same guy I was before I became popular.

“In my hometown, I lead a simple life. The same people who knew me when I was young can still walk up to me and say ‘Hey Manny!’.”

The only difference is that these days he’s got armed bodyguards chaperoning him wherever he goes. Pacquiao may not have changed, but the rest of the world has since the days when Ali would willingly draw giant crowds anywhere in the world.

But one thing remains true between the different eras: idols aren’t born, they are made. They are made by their own blood, sweat and tears. Their journeys in and sometimes out of the ring transform them from mere mortals to modern day heroes.

The 1960s saw Ali grow from an Olympic gold medalist named Cassius Clay to pro phenom to an underdog challenger to an outspoken champion to an anti-hero named Muhammad Ali and finally to an exiled activist. The ‘70s saw him return to the ring, lose for the first time, suffer setbacks, reclaim his crown, become a mainstream hero and eventually the icon that he remains today despite his physical condition.

A decade later another icon emerged from boxing, this one from Mexico. In the ‘80s, Chavez grew from an untested prospect to an undefeated champion, who took on and conquered the kind of opposition that would gradually mobilize an entire nation behind him. He somehow out-willed Edwin Rosario at lightweight, Roger Mayweather at junior welterweight and then, in the most dramatic manner possible, he beat Meldrick Taylor in the epic battle that made him an icon.

When Chavez finally lost – to Frankie Randall and then to Oscar De La Hoya and Kostya Tszyu – his fans, some of whom may have saved up their cash for an entire year to just to be in the same arena as him, wept openly, just as Ali’s fans cried for him after his sad attempt to challenge Larry Holmes was halted after 10 agonizing and shameful rounds.

The most recent icon to emerge was Trinidad, who, in the ‘90s, went from being a skinny title holder with a big punch and shaky whiskers to a true champion. His legion of fans grew as remained undefeated while besting the likes of Pernell Whitaker, De La Hoya, David Reid, and Fernando Vargas. By the time he fought William Joppy in 2001, he was an icon. Anyone who was inside Madison Square Garden for that fight can attest to this fact in no uncertain terms. The same people who idolized Trinidad before, during and after his bout with Joppy, wept openly in the same building when Bernard Hopkins dismantled him later that same year.

The same year Trinidad lost to Hopkins, Pacquiao won the IBF 122-pound title from South Africa’s Lehlohonolo Ledwaba in spectacular fashion on the undercard of Javier Castillejo-De La Hoya, which took place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The surprisingly one-sided KO victory forced the press to take notice of Pacquiao, and though most of the boxing world and fandom viewed him as just another “title holder”, it set in motion his journey to idol status.

Pacquiao’s 2003 victory over Barrera, another surprisingly one-sided stoppage, advanced him from world titlist to world champion and thrust him firmly into the consciousness of the general population of the Philippines. After nearly stopping Juan Manuel Marquez in the first round of their epic draw, he became the people’s champ, but it was his classic three-fight series with Erik Morales that made him an icon.

We’ve seen fans cry when their heroes finally fall in the ring, but when have you seen grown men cry after a victory? Following his 10th-round stoppage of Morales in their rematch last January, Pacquiao’s people in the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas cried tears of joy. They were so emotionally tied to their fighter that Pacquiao’s greatest ring achievement became a simultaneous moment of glory for those in the arena and the entire nation they hail from.

Last November’s brief but electric rubbermatch was just icing on the cake.

Pacquiao is so influential these days that he’s running for office, hoping to land a House of Representatives seat with an election that will take place one month after his fight with Solis.

“I want to bring my district closer to the national government,” said Pacquiao, who would represent the South Cotabato province, where he says around 800,000 people reside, if he is elected on May 14th. “Some politicians have told me not to run because I don’t know about politics, but what is needed is service to the poor, not more politics.”

So Pacquiao, who has never run in the ring, will run for congress back home.

“He should be applauded,” said Bob Arum, who is promoting the April 14th pay-per-view event and is currently in a legal battle with Golden Boy Promotions, which tried to sign the 28-year-old General Santos City native before his last fight, for the right to promote Pacquiao’s future fights. “Manny has done well with boxing and now he wants to give back. He’s running for office because he wants to help his people.”

However, as noble as those aspirations are, more than a few of Pacquiao’s fans are nervous about his foray into the political arena. While Pacquiao is working towards “giving back to his people”, how focused is he on Jorge Solis, they ask? Is he training as hard as he’s campaigning?

Often times a fighter’s success outside of the ring is the biggest obstacle to his success inside of it, and with idol status come obligations – lots of them.

Since the Morales trilogy began, Pacquiao has lived with constant requests for public appearances and media interviews, offers for roles in TV shows and movies, record deals, commercial endorsements, as well as his partnership in a multitude of business ventures when at home.

“Great,” Pacquiao’s faithful followers say when they hear of his political plans, “just what Manny needs; more distractions!”

Pacquiao normally reports to training at trainer Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood at least seven weeks before a big fight. However, for his April 14th fight he just arrived to the States last week, giving him only three complete weeks to get ready for Solis, an unheralded fighter to be sure, but one who is tall, rangy and unbeaten in 34 pro bouts. The former Mexican featherweight champ is not a walk in the park, especially for an unprepared fighter, no matter how much natural talent and ability he is gifted with.

“Don’t worry,” Pacquiao said Wednesday. “I’ve been training.”

According to the Filipino media, Pacquiao has been training in his home town of General Santos City, but some of his fans have worried about what he was doing after his workouts? Was he hitting the pool halls, or playing cards at some casino?

Pacquiao trains hard, but he also been known to play hard.

By the looks of him Wednesday afternoon it’s obvious that he’s been hitting sparring partners more than the cue ball.

Pacquiao, who says he put in three complete weeks including “50 to 60 rounds of sparring” before leaving for the U.S., claims to weigh 136 pounds. This reporter would have guessed 134 or 135 pounds. The man is physically fit.

He says he’s mentally fit, or focused, as well.

“I’m excited to be fighting back in San Antonio; I’m very excited to fight another fighter from Guadalajara,” said Pacquiao, who fought Barrera at San Antonio’s Alamodome, where he’ll face Solis, who happens to be from the same part of Mexico that Oscar Larios, who he fought last year, hails from.

“I saw Solis fight in Las Vegas this past January [on a card headlined by his brother Bobby]. He’s a good fighter. His height and his reach are advantages for him, so I have to be ready for him and I will be.”

As Pacquiao reports for duty at the Wild Card gym, fine tuning his body and mind for his next opponent, an entire nation will follow his every move.