Manny Pacquiao newfound fame

After the Morales bout, Pacquiao was in the limelight again during the first week of February 2006 when a waitress working in a Manila nightclub claimed that he was the father of her son, born out of a whirlwind affair with the boxer. The boxer, allegedly, was giving the child financial support, which was also kept secret from his wife, Jinkee, until she found out. This caused a problem in their marriage, but things were mended.

Trainer Freddie Roach had previously voiced concerns about the late- night lifestyle and warned that the boxer was in danger of losing both his edge and focus. Roach noted that there are too many distractions surrounding Pacquiao in the Philippines.

On July 2, 2006, Pacquiao defeated another Mexican, Oscar Larios, a two-time superbantamweight champion who had moved up two weight divisions in order to face Pacquiao. Despite his camp’s big promise of an early knockout, the fight went until the final round, with Pacquiao knocking down the Mexican two times during the 12-round bout for the WBC International Super Featherweight title held at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Philippines.

In September 2006, Pacquiao signed a major deal with Golden Boy Promotions (GBP), headed by Oscar de la Hoya, which was good for seven fights. This development was confirmed by his coach Freddie Roach. Under the deal, Pacquiao was guaranteed a prize money of US$5 million for each fight. With regard to profits made on each fight, Pacquiao would receive at least 90%, whereas the remaining 10% would go to Golden Boy Promotions.

Pacquiao and Morales fought for a third time (with the series tied 1-all) 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 rematch, Arum announced that Manny returned his signing bonus check back to Golden Boy Promotions, signaling intentions to stay with Top Rank. This resulted in GBP’s decision to sue the famed fighter 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.

After a failed promotional negotiation with Marco Antonio Barrera’s camp, Bob Arum chose Jorge Solis as his next opponent among several fighters that Bob Arum offered him to fight as a replacement. The bout was held in San Antonio 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 eight 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-draw-loss record to 44-3-2, with 35 KOs.

On June 29, 2007, it was announced that Top Rank and GBP agreed to settle their lawsuit, meaning the long-awaited rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera will occur despite being the number 1 contender for the super-featherweight title of Juan Manuel Marquez.

Since Bob Arum was out on a vacation, GBP’s chief executive Richard Schaefer politely declined to discuss Pacquiao’s purse from the October 6, 2007 rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera (at the Mandalay Bay Resort Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas). However, Pacquiao was likely to get a purse of $5 million, plus possibly a share of the pay-per-view rights. Pacquiao defeated Barrera in their rematch via an easy unanimous decision. In the 11th 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.

In The Ring magazine, Pacquiao (45-3-2) remained at the top of the junior lightweight division (130 lbs). He had been in the ratings for 108 weeks. Pacquiao was also at No. 2 in the pound-for-pound category behind welterweight champ Floyd Mayweather.

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 18, 2007, the Manila Bulletin Online edition reported a possible bout between Pacquiao and Oscar de la Hoya. Although it remains to be seen whether it will come to fruition, the prevailing scenario will have Pacquiao battle against David Diaz, the WBC’s current reigning lightweight titlist.

On November 20, 2007, Jose Nunez, manager for WBO Superfeatherweight Champion Joan Guzman, accused Pacquiao’s handler Bob Arum of evading a match between the two boxers to protect Pacquiao. Guzman 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 athlete, non-Olympics competitor, to be the Team Philippines’ flag-bearer during the August 8 opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics at Bird’s Nest, Olympic stadium. Swimmer Miguel Molina, Southeast Asia 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.