Filipino boxer and Congressman Manny Pacquiao
No matter how civilized human kind becomes, our animalistic past is always evident through contact sports we have. It portrays our taste for knowing who the true alpha male is; based on strength and tactic. Among contact sports, the ones primarily based on two entities a simple outcome is expected; a winner and a loser. However, when the context of winning and losing is determined by actually fighting over it, the resulting sport under the most legal conditions is known as boxing.
In this field, a respectable reputation earns you the right to call yourself a good fighter. The best nonetheless tends to be on the top. A rising star in this community is Manny Pacquiao from Phillipines. Seven division champ Manny Pacquiao’s performance in the past 10 years in this field have earned him the Boxing Writers Association of America’s (BWAA) Fighter of the Decade Award. He is the first boxer in known history who has won seven world titles, all in different weight divisions and he is the only boxer to win in four different weight categories in the Lineal Championship.
He was inspired to come into boxing by the death of his friend Eugene who also happened to be a boxer. He started boxing at 16 years of age and weighed a mere 106 pounds, competing in the light flyweight category. Raising his weight from 105 to 113 pounds, he faced a loss against Rustico Torrecampo due to not being able to make it in the weight category and simultaneously having to wear heavier gloves. Shortly after, in a series of 15 consecutive wins he finally competed against Chokchai Chockvivat and won the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) Flyweight title after defeating him. He went on to receiving his first world title against Chatchai Sasakul as World Flyweight Champion (WFC). He lost against Medgoen ‘3K Battery’ though, which made him gain his weight again to 122 pounds for competing in the Bantam weight division. He got his second International World title against Lehlohonolo Ledwaba, making him the new International Boxing Federation (IBF) World Super Bantam weight Champion.
His third international level win came after he defeated Marco Antonio Barrera at Texas, crowning Pacquiao, ‘The Ring World Featherweight Champion’. After a draw with Marquez for the IBF WFC at Las Vegas in 2004, Pacquiao continued with his training to go onto a heavier weight, consequently competing against Érik Morales for super featherweight. Pacquiao lost the twelve round match by unanimous decisions from the judges. In 2006 Pacquiao knocked out Morales in the tenth round, avenging his earlier loss and in the same year fought Larios who was a two time Bantam weight Champion who moved up the weight scale to challenge Pacquiao. Morales and Pacquaio fought for the third time the same year in November, Morales losing to a knockout in the third round. After fighting Solis and Barrerra and defeating both in 2007, it was Pacquiao’s time to rise to fame in stardom. In the Ring magazine he remained the top featherweight champ, he was honored by the World Boxing Council (WBC) as Champ Emiritus and was the only Filipino flag bearer at the Olympics who was a non-participant.
Pacquiao has gone upto seven weight division victories in total and four Lineal World Championships. The most recent of his victories was against IBF World Welterweight Champion Joshua Clottey on March 13, 2010. It was held at Texas and generated a revenue of 35.5 million US$ and Pacquiao managed to retain his WBO World Welterweight belt. After this fight, Pacquiao has also mentioned the possibility of retirement, though it is widely speculated that he may return late this year for a third fight against Marquez.
These credentials, though summarized from the extensive list that Pacquiao has portrayed some of his victorious feats. It makes it understandable why he had such a lead over the others shortlisted for the BWAA fighter of the decade award. Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Joe Calzaghe were both undefeated at 41-0 and 46-0 respectively, but Pacquiao was far ahead of them as per the BWAA. The Filipino boxer who was recently elected as a national congressman, is to receive his award at the 85th BWAA Awards Dinner at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on Friday.
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