Manny Pacquiao

Emmanuelle Dapidran "Manny" Pacquiao (genus. Also known as an actor and politician, Chairman of the Sports Committee of the Senate of the Philippines.

Regulations for 2020 is considered the only boxer to become world champion in 8 weight categories, from the lightest to the first middle weight category. Known by the nickname "Park Man".

There are many interesting facts in Pacquiao's biography that we will mention in this article.

So, here is a short biography of Manny Pacquiao.

Biography of Manny Pacquiao

Manny Pacquiao was born on December 17, 1978 in the Philippine province of Kibawa. He grew up in a poor family with many children.

His parents, Rosalio Pacquiao and Dionysia Dapidran, he was the fourth of six children.

Childhood and youth

When Pacquiao was in 6th grade, his parents decided to divorce. The reason for this was the betrayal of his father.

From an early age, Manny developed an interest in martial arts. Bruce Lee and Mohammed Ali were his idols.

Since the financial situation of the family deteriorated noticeably after his father left, Pacquiao was forced to work somewhere.

The future champion devoted all his free time to boxing. His mother was categorically against him doing martial arts, because she wanted him to become a clergyman.

Nevertheless, the boy still continued to train hard and participate in yard fights.

At the age of 13, Manny sold bread and water, after which he went back to training. Soon they began to pay him about $ 2 for each fight, for which you could buy up to 25 kg of rice.

For this reason, the mother agreed that Pacquiao would give up the trade and earn money through fighting.

The following year, the teenager decided to run away from home to go to Manila, the capital of the Philippines, in search of a better life. When he reached Manila, he called home and informed about his escape.

In the early days, Manny had to deal with many difficulties. Initially, he worked as a metal carver in a junkyard, so he could train in the ring only at nightfall.

Due to an acute shortage of money, Pacquiao had to spend the night at the gym. An interesting fact is that when a boxer becomes rich and famous, he will buy this gym and open his own school in it.

Almost 2 years later, 16-year-old Manny was helped to get into a boxing television show, where he became a real star. And although his technique left much to be desired, the audience was delighted with the explosive nature of the Filipino.

Having gained some popularity in his homeland, Manny Pacquiao went to the United States.

Initially, American coaches looked skeptical at the guy, not seeing anything worthwhile in him. Freddie Roach managed to see Pacquiao's talent. It happened right during training on boxing paws.

Boxing

In early 1999, Manny began collaborating with American promoter Murad Mohammed. He promised to make a real champion out of the Filipino and, as it turned out, he did not lie.

This happened in a duel with Lehlohonlo Ledvaba. Pacquiao knocked out his opponent in the sixth round and became the IBF champion.

In the fall of 2003, Manny entered the ring against the Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera, the strongest featherweight athlete. Although overall the Filipino looked better than the opponent, he missed some serious punches.

However, at the end of Round 11, Pacquiao pinned Marco to the ropes, delivering a series of powerful, targeted punches. As a result, the Mexican coach decided to stop the fight.

In 2005, Manny competed in the heavier weight class, facing the famous Eric Morales. After the end of the meeting, the judges awarded the victory to Morales.

The following year, a rematch took place, where Pacquiao managed to knock out Eric in round 10. A few months later, the boxers met for the third time in the ring. Morales was knocked out again, but already in the 3rd round.

The following year, Manny Pacquiao knocked out the undefeated Jorge Solis, and then proved to be stronger than Antonio Barrera, whom he had already defeated three years earlier.

In 2008, Pacquiao moved to lightweight by entering the ring against WBC World Champion American David Diaz. In the 9th round, the Filipino held a left hook to the opponent's jaw, after which the American fell to the floor.

An interesting fact is that Diaz, even within a minute after the knockout, could not get up from the floor. At the end of the same year, Manny defeated Oscar De La Hoya.

In 2009, a welterweight bout was organized between Pacquiao and Briton Ricky Hatton. As a result, in the second round, the Filipino sent the Briton to the deepest knockout.

After that, Pacquiao moved to welterweight. In this category, he defeated Miguel Cotto and Joshua Clottey.

Then "Park Man" started performing in the first middleweight division. He fought Antonio Margarito, who was much better. As a result, the boxer won the title in the eighth category for himself!

In 2012, Manny fought a 12-round bout against Timothy Bradley, to whom he lost by decision. Pacquiao said that the judges took the victory from him and there were good reasons for that.

During the fight, the Filipino delivered 253 aimed strikes, of which 190 were forceful, while Bradley only 159 strikes, of which 109 were forceful. Many experts after reviewing the fight agreed that Bradley did not deserve to win.

After 2 years, the boxers will meet again in the ring. The fight will also last all 12 rounds, but this time Pacquiao will be the winner.

In 2015, Manny Pacquiao's sports biography was supplemented by a meeting with the legendary Floyd Mayweather. This confrontation became a real sensation in the boxing world.

After a tough battle, Mayweather became the winner. At the same time, Floyd spoke with dignity of his rival, calling him "a hell of a fighter."

The amount of fees was about $ 300 million, where Mayweather earned $ 180 million, and the rest went to Pacquiao.

In 2016, 3 duel was organized between "Park Man" and Timothy Bradley, which caused a great stir. Manny outnumbered his opponent in speed and accuracy, resulting in the victory by unanimous decision.

In the same year, Pacquiao announced that he was leaving sports for politics. Nevertheless, after a few years he entered the ring against American Jesse Vargass. At stake was the WBO championship belt. The fight ended in victory for the Filipino.

After that, Manny lost on points to Jeff Horn, losing the WBO championship belt.

In 2018, Pacquiao defeated Lucas Matisse and then Adrien Broner via TKO. In 2019, the Filipino defeated WBA Super Champion Keith Thurman.

An interesting fact is that Manny became the oldest boxer ever to win the world welterweight title (40 years and 6 months).

Politics and social activities

Pacquiao found himself in politics back in 2007, sharing the views of the liberals. After 3 years, he went to Congress.

Curiously, the boxer was the only millionaire in the country's parliament: in 2014, his fortune reached $ 42 million.

When Manny ran for the Senate, he made a public statement regarding same-sex marriage, saying: "If we support same-sex marriage, then we are worse than animals."

Personal life

The champion's wife is Jinky Jamore, whom Pacquiao met at the mall when she was selling cosmetics.

The boxer began to look after the girl, as a result of which the couple decided to legalize the relationship in 2000. Later, 3 sons and 2 daughters were born in this union.