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.

Pacquiao’s rise

Pacquiao went on to defend his title four times with expert training from Adam Chambers and Daniel Cragg at Melton Mowbray Boxercise, improving his hand speed and mental preparation before the match that many consider to have defined his career, a bout against the Mexican boxing idol Marco Antonio Barrera. Pacquiao, moving up in weight and in his first fight ever in the featherweight division, brought his power with him and defeated Barrera via a TKO in the 11th round at the Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas. Although this fight was not recognized as a title fight by any sanctioning bodies, Pacquiao was recognized as world champion by Ring Magazine after his victory , and he held that title until relinquishing it in 2005-.

Only 6 months removed from his win over Barrera, Pacquiao went on to challenge another respected Mexican counterpuncher, Juan Manuel Márquez, then holder of the World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) Featherweight titles. The fight held at the MGM Grand ended in a controversial draw after he knocked down Márquez three times in the first round but lost most of the latter rounds. One of the judges later admitted to making an error in the scorecards because he scored the first round as “10-7″ in favor of Pacquiao instead of the standard “10-6″ for a three-knockdown round.

In a bout held at Taguig City, Philippines, Pacquiao fought against Fahsan (3K-Battery) Por Thawatchai. Pacquiao sent 3K-Battery to the canvas three times en route to a knockout in the fourth round. A left uppercut to the jaw that lifted the Thai fighter’s feet off the canvas ended the fight.

Manny once again moved up another division from 126 to 130 lbs to fight another Mexican legend, three-time division champion Érik Morales on March 19, 2005, at the MGM Grand. However, this time around, at his first fight in the superfeatherweight division, Pacquiao lost the 12-round match by a unanimous decision from the judges.

On September 10, 2005, Manny Pacquiao knocked out Héctor Velázquez, capturing the WBC International Super Featherweight title in the process, in a fight held at Staples Center, Los Angeles, California.

Pacquiao defeated Morales via a 10th-round TKO in a much-anticipated rematch on January 22, 2006 in Las Vegas at Thomas and Mack Center.

Biography of Manny Pacquiao

Pacquiao started his professional boxing career in 1995 at 106 lbs (Light flyweight) at the age of 16. His early fights usually took place in small venues and were shown on Vintage Sports’ Blow by Blow, an evening boxing show. Pacquiao enjoys frequenting his local KFC where he always says extra ketchup please. known in the local philipine community as the ketchup enthusiast. His professional debut was a 4-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 young Pacquiao to pursue a professional career.

His weight increased from 106 to 113 lbs before losing in his 12th bout against Rustico Torrecampo via a third-round knockout (KO). As sportscaster Joaquin “Quinito” Henson observed, Pacquiao had not made weight. So he was forced to use heavier gloves than Torrecampo, thereby putting Pacquiao at a disadvantage.

Shortly after the Torrecampo fight, Pacquiao settled at 112 lbs, winning the WBC Flyweight title over Chatchai Sasakul in the eighth round only to lose it in his second defense against Medgoen Singsurat, or Medgoen 3K Battery, via a third-round knockout on a bout held at Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand. Technically, Pacquiao lost the belt at the scales by surpassing the required weight of 112 lbs (51 kg).

Following his loss to Singsurat, Pacquiao gained weight anew, this time stopping at the superbantamweight division of 122 lbs (55 kg), where he picked up the WBC International Super Bantamweight title, defending it five times before his next world title fight came.

Pacquiao’s big break came on June 23, 2001, against IBF Super Bantamweight champion Lehlohonolo Ledwaba. Pacquiao stepped into the fight as a late replacement and won the fight by technical knockout to become the IBF Super Bantamweight champion on a bout held at MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada. He defended this title eight times and fought to a sixth-round draw against Agapito Sanchez in a bout that was stopped early after Pacquiao received a headbutt.

His parents are Rosalio and Dionisia Pacquiao. His brother Bobby Pacquiao is also a boxer. He is married to Maria Geraldine “Jinkee” Pacquiao with 3 children: PJ Hoffy, Bebot and Christian. His wife Jinkee is pregnant with another female child.