WBO welterweight champion Rep. Manny Pacquiao couldn’t have said it better.
In the 200-page book “Box: The Face of Boxing” (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2010), Pacquiao is one of over 150 fighters featured in photographs taken by Holger Keifel and there’s a quote taken directly from him.
Pacquiao, the only man ever to capture eight world titles in eight different weight classes, has two photographs in the book – one a close-up and the other, a half-body pose, shirtless, sporting hand-wraps and wearing boxing shorts with “PACQUIAO’ emblazoned on the waistband. There are also photographs of promoters, trainers, cut-men, boxing TV executives, writers, matchmakers, lawyers, managers, referees, administrators and regulators, publicists and others, including recent Hall of Fame inductee Sylvester Stallone with their quotations.
Pacquiao’s quote summarizes what’s in his heart:“There is bad news all the time in my country. There is not enough food. We have typhoons. There is corruption in the government and too much crime. So many people are suffering and have no hope. Then, I bring them good news and they are happy. I know that millions of people are praying for me and that gives me strength. My fight is not only for me but for my country.”
With that kind of declaration, it’s no wonder that Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated recently described Pacquiao as “an uberpopular congressman in the Philippines who has a potential future as that country’s president.”
No one doubts Pacquiao’s sincerity. When he enters the ring, you know he’s in there to bring honor and glory to the Philippines. Of course, Pacquiao is in it for the money. Boxing is his livelihood, after all, and it was his ticket out of poverty. The sport has given him fame and fortune.
And for all his blood, sweat and tears, Pacquiao deserves the good things that have come his way. Pacquiao never forgets to thank God for his blessings – before every fight, he kneels in his corner for a prayer and when it’s all over – win or lose – he gives praise to the Lord.
Pacquiao, 32, reveals in the book that his inspiration is the Filipino people. Perhaps, now, at this stage of his life, money is no longer his primary purpose for fighting. He has earned over $100 Million in his boxing career and when he finally decides to hang up his gloves in two or three years, the amount could reach $200 Million, especially if Floyd Mayweather Jr. steps up to the plate. Another thing is Pacquiao enjoys boxing and the hard work that comes with it. Once the enjoyment is gone, then it may be time to quit.
More than anyone else, Pacquiao will know when to retire and you can bet that he’ll quit when he’s ahead. Pacquiao will want to be remembered as a legend in his own time. He won’t want to end his career only a shadow of his old self. He’ll want to go at his peak like Rocky Marciano and Joe Calzaghe.
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The book has more revelations on other boxing figures. Promoter Bob Arum, for instance, is quoted as saying, “We build fighters at Top Rank, step by step, so by the time they fight for a title, the fans know who they are and they’re ready to win… The process moves slowly and can be frustrating for the fighters. But if a fighter is patient and does his job in the ring, that patience pays off.”
Trainer Freddie Roach is also quoted: “Things are easier said from the corner than done in the ring.”
Here are some more “knockouts’:
Mike Tyson – “The best decision I ever made was to retire from boxing. I hate the smell of a gym. I hate the boxing game. That guy I used to be, I don’t know that guy anymore. I don’t have a connection with him anymore. I’m just not that person anymore. I like the person I am now more than I did. I don’t like Iron Mike.”
Sugar Ray Leonard – “They say that boxing is brutal and violent. But look at football. They don’t try to get to the quarterback to shake his hand.”
Oscar de la Hoya – “One of the things that bothers me most is that very few people really understand what it means to be a fighter. I hate it when I hear someone say, ‘That fighter doesn’t have guts.’ It really ticks me off. I don’t care if you’re a world champion six times over or a four-round fighter who just got knocked out in 30 seconds of your first professional fight, to step inside that ring, you have to have guts.”
Michael Buffer – (on the origin of his trademark phrase “Let’s get ready to rumble”) “I wanted something comparable to ‘Gentlemen, start your engines’ at the Indy 500, a hook that would excite people and put some energy into the arena. I tried ‘man your battle stations’ and ‘batten down the hatches’ and ‘fasten your seat belts’ but none of them worked. Then, I remembered
Muhammad Ali saying, ‘Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, rumble, young man, rumble.’ And when Sal Marchiano was the blow-by-blow commentator forESPN, he’d say, ‘we’re ready to rumble.’ So I took those ideas and fine-tuned them.”
Stallone – “I never went to a fight before I wrote Rocky. I was always either doing other things or was too poor to go. The first fight I went to see was Larry Holmes against Ken Norton at Caesars in Las Vegas. What a great fight! And to be honest, if I’d seen that fight before writing Rocky, the movie might have been a little different because one of the things that struck me about Holmes-Norton was the audience participation. At Holmes-Norton, I realized that the crowd is a character in itself.”
Mayweather – “I’m the master. I know all about jewelry. People say I’m cocky and arrogant. But I say I’m confident and slick. And my lifestyle is flashy. I like flashy jewelry, flashy cars, that’s me. There’s never too many diamonds.”
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Thomas Hauser wrote the text for the book. He began his professional career as a litigator with a Wall Street law firm then started writing in 1977 and discovered a passion for boxing in 1983.
“Boxing fans in America remain proud of what the sweet science once was,” wrote Hauser. “They are less proud of what it is today. But if boxing is no longer part of the American dream, it has moved to the forefront of the dream in other parts of the world. Fighters such as Manny Pacquiao, Ricky Hatton and the Klitschko brothers have stirred passions around the globe.”
Hauser was the only boxing journalist in Pacquiao’s dressing room after the Filipino icon defeated Sugar Shane Mosley in Las Vegas last May. His presence was an indication of Pacquiao’s recognition of his talent, love for the sport and dedication to his craft.
“Box: The Face of Boxing” is a collection of photographs and insightful quotations that make you appreciate the sport even more.
Source: http://www.philstar.com
