Word: pacquiao
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Pacquiao didn't need prayers. He sprang off the canvas with a playful bounce and waved his opponent forward: bring it on! After that, the fists flew one way. In the third round, Pacquiao landed a concussive left that scrambled Barrera's motor control; the favorite sat down in the ring like a stunned child, feeling a shock that would soon spread to the rest of the boxing world. By the end of the 11th round, a humbled Barrera had been bludgeoned into submission, with Pacquiao landing 150 more power punches than the Mexican. The referee stopped the fight...
...Since that triumphant night, Pacquiao (it's pronounced correctly as Pak-yao) has been hailed as one of the world's best fighters; Ring magazine recently named him the "people's champion" in the featherweight class. At 25, he's now a main-event attraction who can negotiate seven-figure-per-fight deals with HBO. Back home in the Philippines, he's revered as a real-life Rocky who slugged his way out of the country's pervasive poverty and proved that Filipinos can compete and win on the global stage. When he returned to Manila after his victory...
...little difference, but it shouldn't matter." He insists he's still the same Manny who used to box in Manila for peanuts, even if his next fight is likely to earn him at least $1 million. Still, it's hard to avoid noticing the signs of Pacquiao's newfound wealth. Today, hanging out in his rented apartment in the capital, Pac-Man is wearing two fat gold watches - one of which, he notes proudly, cost some $15,000. He owns two houses: one in his hometown of General Santos City, the other in Davao. He owns a Honda...
...Pacquiao, who is married and has two young sons, likes his extra-extended family, even if they do tax his budget. "All those who are around me are the bridge to my success, so they are all important," he says. He helps pay for the education of some of his younger relatives. He even gave a few hundred dollars to Rolando Navarrete, a once famous boxing champion from his hometown who squandered his talent and ended up in jail for a few years on a rape charge. Sitting in the kitchen of his apartment surrounded by a coterie of relatives...
...Pacquiao wants to see how far those prayers have taken him, all he has to do is visit his $54,000 home in General Santos City - a palace, by local standards - located in the same neighborhood as the dirt-floor shanty where he spent part of his childhood. Local officials advertise the town as the most competitive middle-sized city in the Philippines. But even though carefully qualified, the slogan seems optimistic at best. GenSan is situated on the southern tip of the lawless province of Mindanao, which is wracked by separatist fighting and kidnapping. Many of the residents...