From Zero to Hero

Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao (born December 17, 1978) also known to the world as Manny “The Pac-man” Pacquiao, the number one pound-for-pound boxer of his time, after winning four major titles such as the, WBC world flyweight champion, IBF world super bantamweight champion, WBC world super featherweight champion, and WBC world lightweight champion, with four minor titles such as, OPBF flyweight champion, WBC international super bantamweight champion, WBC international super featherweight champion, and the IBO world light welterweight champion. Manny pacquiao also has some notable The Ring Magazine titles such as, World featherweight champion, World super featherweight champion and the World light welterweight champion. He is recognized as the 2006 and 2008 The Ring Magazine fighter of the year, 2006 and 2008 Boxing Writers association of America Fighter of the year, WBC Emeritus champion, The Ring Magazine #1 Pound For Pound, 5-time PSA Sportsman of the year, 2008 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Honorary Award for Sports Excellence, 2008 Boxingscene.com Fighter of the Year, 2008 Sports Illustrated Boxer of the Year, 2008 SecondsOut.com Fighter of the Year, 2008 TheSweetScience.com Boxer of the Year, 2008 WBC Boxer of the Year, 2008 Yahoo Sports Fighter of the Year, 2008 ESPN Star’s Champion of Champions.

Manny Pacquiao’s life story comes from humble beginnings. Manny was born in Mindanao, His father left Manny and his family when he was at a young age, he had six siblings, they were very poor in those days. Manny’s mother would say that Manny used to be always get into trouble and that Manny was almost the trouble maker out of his siblings, due to poverty Manny had to go into boxing because they could not afford his education, he started small in manila with his boxing career, he was first seen at “BLOW BY BLOW” a small time television show in the Philippines and it went on from there.

How he became from Zero to Hero. After defending his title four times, he was faced against Marco Antonio Barrera and won via TKO in the 11th round at San Antonio Texas.

Next he faced Juan Manuel Marquez which was the holder of the World Boxing association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) featherweight titles at that time. Manny knocked down Marquez three times in the first round but lost in later rounds but ending with Manny getting the judges favor for the win.

On March 19, 2005 he was faced against Erik Morales at Las Vegas and lost a 12 round match by a unanimous decision.

After he lost against Morales, he was then faced with Hector Velasquez on September 10, 2005 at Los Angeles, California, which he knocked out, capturing the WBC International Super Featherweight Title.

On January 21, 2006 at Las Vegas, Manny again faced Erik Morales for a rematch and won in the 10th round ending with a KO.

On July 2, 2006, Manny was faced up against Oscar Larios which was a two-time super bantamweight champion at the time, which Manny won by knocking down Larios during the 12th round. The fight was held in Manila, Philippines

On November 18, 2006  Manny was faced yet again with Erik Morales for the third time and was held at Las Vegas which Manny won by a knock-out on the 3rd  round

On April 14, 2007 at San Antonio, Texas, Manny was put up against Jorge Solis, the fight continued up until the sixth round where Manny was cut under his left eyebrow due to an accidental head butt by Solis. The fight ended in the 8th round when Pacquiao knocked down Solis twice, and Manny won with a record 44-3-2 with 34 knockouts.

On June 29, 2007, Manny was faced up again with Marco Antonio Barrera which was held at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. Manny defeated Barrera with an easy unanimous decision. The two judges scored the bout 118-109, where the third judge scored it 115-112 in favor of Manny.

On March 15, 2008 Manny Pacquiao was scheduled for a rematch against Juan Manuel Marquez called “unfinished business”, which Manny won by a split decision, they fought tooth and nail until the 3rd round where Manny knocked down Marquez and won the WBC and The Ring super featherweight belts which made Manny the only Filipino to win three world titles in three different weight divisions.

On June 28, 2008 at the Mandalay Bay Resort an Casino in Las Vegas Manny was faced up against David Diaz for the WBC lightweight champion where Manny won via 9th round by knocking out David Diaz and made himself a title for the only Filipino and Asian boxer to win four major titles in four weight classes and also the only Filipino to win a world title at lightweight

On December 6, 2008 Manny was faced against the Golden Boy himself Oscar De La Hoya at Las Vegas, it was called the dream match, where Manny was the underdog due to the fact that De La Hoya was already made a name for himself in the US for his reputation of being a good boxer but Manny shocked the crowd when De La Hoya threw in the towel during the 9th round and won by a TKO, it was a non title match.

On May 2, 2009 Manny Pacquiao was set for a match against the British Ricky “The Hit Man” Hatton and was set on Las Vegas, with Hatton’s dismay he was knocked out on the last remaining minutes of the 2nd round giving Manny another memorabilla to his championship belt collection.

Manny Pacquiao ran for congress in South Cotabato in the Philippines but loss to Darlene Antonio-Custudio, but even as it is, Manny is now hailed in the Philippines as the peoples champ, and considered as a modern day hero in the Philippines, Manny Pacquiao has garnered a huge amount of money from his career in boxing, Manny has now properties to add to his wealth such as condo’s, apartments, mansions, cock farms, fancy cars and is still getting endorsements from big company’s, such as Nike and many other more. Thus driving Manny from the life of an unknown poor boy to a well known icon of our times.