Word: pacquiao
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Dates: during 2004-2004
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...boxing fans were surprised when, less than a minute into the fight, Manny Pacquiao fell to the canvas. The 57-kg Filipino was matched up against Marco Antonio Barrera, widely considered one of the best boxers in the world. Pacquiao was tough - he had brawled his way to two previous titles in two different weight classes - but he was relatively inexperienced. A low-profile Filipino known in the U.S. by the decidedly unthreatening nickname "Pac-Man," he was fighting the biggest bout of his career in front of more than 10,000 hostile spectators in San Antonio, Texas...
...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...