Manny Pacquiao: The making of a global icon

Filipino boxer Emmanuel “Manny" Pacquiao, the world’s best pound-for pound fighter, has evolved into a true “global icon" – as anointed by sports analyst Joaquin Henson after the 31-year old "pambansang Kamao" defeated Ghanaian boxer Joshua Clottey last March 14 at the imposing Cowboys’ Stadium in Arlington, Texas. I learned about his successful crossover from Philippine sports superstardom to international celebrityhood last year, April 1 to be precise, one balmy morning while queuing up at a local courthouse in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. The Mexican man standing beside me found out that I am a Filipino, and proceeded to say the one word he knows about the Philippines. “Pacquiao," he smiled. “He’s a good boxer." Dethroned Pacman, as he is fondly known, has effectively dethroned former First Lady Imelda Marcos and her 3,000 pairs of shoes as the Philippines’ premiere cultural symbol. Finally, unequivocally.

A certified billionaire, the famed pugilist from General Santos City retained his world welterweight crown by outpunching Clottey. It was a bout that most Filipinos found dull and uninspiring, brought about by the reluctance of Clottey to move out of his turtle-like defense, so intent was he in preserving his record of zero knockouts. The fight also marked the debut of a crossover for the famous football team owner Jerry the “dollar billionaire" Jones (he owns “America’s Team -- the Dallas Cowboys football franchise) from top football jefe to serious boxing sponsor. Writing for the Las Vegas Sun, columnist John Katsilometes described Jones' $1.2-billion Cowboys Stadium as “brilliantly over the top, with its mirrored exterior, let the sunshine in retractable roof and 110,000 seat capacity." Clearly, the “domed enormity" is as much a crowd-drawer as its star fighters. I was among the 50,994 spectators who trooped to the Pacquiao-Clottey fight that was shown before a world-wide audience of millions. Wearing the Chinese-favored color of "ang pao" (red envelop) bright red, the karaoke-loving boxer was the clear favorite of the crowd, which roared its approval whenever his mug was flashed across the high-definition jumbotron. The small number of sponsors and endorsements stitched in opponent Clottey’s shimmery cherry-red shorts was proof that the fortunes of companies like Nike and Motorola are hitched to the boxing phenom that Pacquiao has become. Too much of a good team? Pacquio’s "army" is omnipresent during his fights, and has been described by examiner.com writer Michael Marley as making “old Muhammad Ali carnival troupe look like a ragtag and smallish assembly." In this instance, the group that descended in Grapevine, Texas, including the dog Pacman, was about 170-strong, according to Filipino businesswoman Trisha Verzosa, a friend of Pacman’s wife Jinkee. Of this number, probably only “about 10 percent" is related by blood to the Pacquiao family, she said. To follow Team Pacquiao is to experience a baptism of fire on the intricacies of complex human organizations and relationships, not unlike those that surround a presidency. It also makes a nice case study for a cordon sanitaire in the making. There is "Team Pacquiao" which is composed of people "the Man" (and you can begin counting how many nicknames Pacquiao’s been given) trusts outside of his blood family, on both his and wife Jinkee’s side. They are his trainer Freddie Roach, assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez (who, by the way, wears the wittiest of T-shirt messages and has his own groupies) who is Pacman’s childhood friend, and Yugoslav-Hungarian adviser Michael Koncz, reportedly a Canadian citizen who does anything and everything for him including fluffing his rice. He has his personal medical teams, both US- and Philippine-based led by Laredo pediatrician Dr. Allan Recto and surgeon Dr. Nasser Cruz; his official biographer Winchell Campos; his personal assistant Joe Ramos; and Cris Aquino, the flag and championship belt bearer who is also his friend and adviser. In the background are his self-effacing business friends, the brothers Tieng of Solar Film Productions, who hold the TV rights to produce and feature his bouts on Philippine television, and Jake Joson, who handles his endorsements. The biggest boxing promoter there ever is -- another dollar billionaire, Top Rank’s Bob Arum -- is also in Manny’s corner. And then there are the political mentors and friends he’s made, like former Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson and First Gentleman Mike Arroyo who are usually present for his fights. Singson said he was hoping Pacquiao would knock out Clottey before the ninth. Arroyo expressed the same confidence when he visited Pacquiao in his suite the night before the fight. "I wished him good luck. He was very relaxed, high-spirited. He feels that he will win," Arroyo told GMANews.TV. He added that he would like Pacquiao to fight Floyd Mayweather "to show him who’s the boss. Mayweather keeps on backing out, parang duwag siya and sabi niya Pacquiao is on steroids." Subteams In turn, each major personality in Pacquiao’s life has a sub-team, so to speak. There is a “Team Jinkee" representing the missus, a “Team Dr. Allan" helping out in the medical needs of the Pacman in the US, a "Team Freddie" for head trainer Freddie Roach whose security escorts are his childhood friends, a "Team Cris" representing flag bearer Cris Aquino, and a "team Buboy" representing assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez. There is also the Team from General Santos City led by Fiscal Edilberto Jamora, who is Jinkee’s uncle. Those are just the obvious teams that I had the chance to meet and greet -- I am sure there are more. Oh, did I mention that the people who act as his zealous security escorts (understandably so, with everyone wanting to get a piece of Manny and his team) can sometimes be frighteningly threatening? I mistakenly thought that the two African-American men I saw in Manny’s suite while he was having breakfast were his close-in bodyguards. They looked very official, tall and wearing sports coats. When I asked them where they were from, the answer sounded right: “Washingon D.C." Turned out they were also fans, having gone to Pacquiao's suite to seek autographs, grown men and all. See, the magic that the Pacman weaves is simply irresistible. And then there are his drivers, the cooks, the masseuse, and hordes of assistants, helpers, fans and converts who have all gotten aboard the Pacman train. Of course, there's the ever-present media. Lastly there are the fans, some of whom can be quite obnoxious. They float around like they own the place, behaving rudely. "Human barnacles and leeches" was how Sports Illustrated columnist Chris Mannix described the hordes of hangers-on who can sometimes act more “popish than the pope," as this writer often witnessed. Are you "in"? After a while, one's brain gets addled from the number of teams around Pacquiao. Each will claim to be “connected" no matter how tenuous or far-fetched to the Pacman, some more directly than others. Just like a big extended family, each of these spheres of influence may at times collide, physically at that, with each other and try to jockey their way into the good graces of Pacman, who is arguably considered a national treasure. What sets apart the members of the original Team Pacquiao is that Manny gave each of them a silver ring with the words Team Pacquiao inscribed on it. Nobody is quite sure how many were given; what they know for sure is that if you own one, you wear it to show you’re “in". The seating and sleeping arrangements around Manny are a good indicator, although not foolproof, of how “in" a certain person is in the team. Usually, the closer the proximity, the higher in value along the Manny totem pole. That’s entertainment For his downtime, Pacquiao continues to entertain. And he is serious with it, taking in fact singing lessons from Italian-American vocal coach Helena Buscema, whom he met in a church. Because of his hectic schedule, Buscema who is a church cantor can only give him short lessons on breathing techniques. Pacquiao is a baritone and is partial to English and Filipino ballads. "Nothing’s gonna change my love for you" by George Benson is a favorite. Off the ring, the Pacman is an enthusiastic student who would do 10-20 minutes of voice technique. He is taught how to use his voice and even does duets with Madonna Decena – she of Britain’s Got Talent fame. His eight-man MP band led by Lito Camu also travels with him. According to band drummer and record producer Ferdie Marquez, Pacquiao likes singing live with the band more than using a minus one. His repertoire ranges from Martin Nievera (his favorite balladeer) standards to original songs written for him, like “Lahing Pinoy." The band was only organized last year. Pang-mundong Kamao? This may seem a lofty and almost impossible a goal, one surmises, until you realize that Pacquiao has already arrived in the international stage. The United Nations should seriously consider asking him to become a goodwill ambassador of sorts, seeing how well-received he is internationally. Although he might dismiss "karangalan" (honor) as being unable to fill empty stomachs, in the world stage, honor is something you want in abundance. Our Pambansang kamao can very well be the Pang-mundong kamao. Pacquiao is the main reason why, given the lack of time to properly promote the event, HBO was still able to get 700,000 viewers despite the ho-hum fight with Clottey, who was more intent in saving his skin than giving spectators a real showdown. It is said that when Pacquiao fights, the Philippines comes to a standstill because everyone is intent on watching the bout. On a quick trip to Manila in 2009, I saw for myself how traffic became very light because most people were glued to their TV sets watching Pacquiao demolish Miguel Cotto. Apparently, the same thing can be said in Mexico. According to Antonio Lozada, manager of lightweight division champion Humberto “Zorrito" (little fox) Sotto, in Tijuana, “todos los matones estan aqui viendo la pelea" (all the killers are here watching the fight)." He immediately regrets the tongue-in-cheek remark and dismisses it as “a poor joke," while issuing a challenge to Pacquiao that they want to fight him. Some people may say the only reason the Mexicans like him is because he has defeated every other Mexican boxer there ever was. Indeed, as one Mexican–American businessman says, "no hay buenos boceader de mexicano en esta (there is no good Mexican boxer at the moment). But this realization seems to have escaped the younger generation. My son’s classmate, who lives across in Matamoros, announced to his other classmates: “Don’t you know who Pacquiao is? He is the best Mexican boxer there is!" My son almost gagged. – YA, GMANews.TV PART TWO Manny Pacquiao: A man of focus, forgiveness and faith Part of Pacquiao’s mythic status stems from his ability to defy the odds. Where else can you find a boxer that would be so willing to stage a concert after slugging it out for 12 rounds? Only in Pacquiao country. Read more here.