by David P. Greisman
Photo © Chris Cozzone/Fightwireimages.com

Call it world domination, one country at a time.

For years, Manny Pacquiao was an Asian sensation, fighting in Thailand, Japan and his native Philippines. And then in 2001, he lifted off, departing his archipelago, setting out to bombard new opponents with his formidable artillery. Across the Pacific Ocean he went, en route to the biggest of debuts – in Las Vegas, on pay-per-view, under Oscar De La Hoya. Pacquiao knocked out his opponent in six rounds. More would fall later.

Since that night, all but four of his subsequent bouts have been in America. And 10 of his past 11 opponents have come from the nation south of the border.

Two fights against Marco Antonio Barrera. Two against Juan Manuel Marquez. Three against Erik Morales. They represent a venerable trinity of future Hall of Fame inductees. Pacquiao beat all three, essentially sending two toward retirement. He demolished Barrera in their first meeting, then astonished many by out-boxing him in the second. His initial loss to Morales was avenged through a pair of brutal beatings, knockouts of a man for whom the taste of canvas was almost entirely foreign. And on Saturday Pacquiao erased his 2004 draw with Marquez, pulling out the split decision against an expert boxer who may have been Mexico’s last line of defense.

Call it world domination, one division at a time.

It is 1995. Manny Pacquiao is barely 16, and at just 106 pounds, barely there. But he aged, and grew, and his power came with him. Pacquiao captured his first lineal championship two weeks before his 20th birthday, striking flyweight gold after eight rounds with Chatchai Sasakul. One year later, he was 10 pounds heavier. The junior featherweights never knew what hit them, though they definitely knew whom. After three years at 122, Pacquiao held a title belt and had made further appearances on major undercards.

The big time – and the big challenges – couldn’t elude him for long. He would jump to featherweight, beating Barrera for the lineal featherweight championship and then defending it with a stalemate against Marquez. He would rise to 130, taking on Morales, Barrera and Marquez, and “Ring Magazine” would award him its highest honor Saturday in recognition of his triumphs.

Lightweight comes next.

For what seemed like ages, two promoters dueled in court and in the press for the rights to Pacquiao. Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank Inc. eventually went into mediation, agreeing to share Pacquiao for all bouts involving an opponent from the Golden Boy stable.

Finally, Barrera could get his rematch against Pacquiao. At long last, the fans could see the sequel to the astonishing, entertaining draw with Marquez.

Barrera lasted the duration but couldn’t change the conclusion, ultimately losing a wide decision. Marquez would be a much sterner test.

With scientific control of distance and timing, Marquez countered Pacquiao, opening up cuts over his right eye. Yet he wasn’t afraid to exchange either; for every Pacquiao volley, Marquez returned fire. Four years ago, Pacquiao had been able to put Marquez on the canvas three times in the opening round, and Marquez still got up, fought through a bloody nose and came one scorecard away from winning. This time, Pacquiao only floored Marquez once, dropping him in round three with a quick left cross. Pacquiao threw more punches and landed nearly as many as his opponent, leaving Marquez fighting through a cut over his right eye, only to again come one scorecard away from winning. On Saturday, though, victory would belong to the Pac-man.

The win paves the way for Pacquiao to challenge 135-pound titlist David Diaz, who is also promoted by Top Rank. Though the true lightweight championship belongs to another fighter, the match-up allows Pacquiao the opportunity to capture a title seven divisions higher than where he began.

Call it world domination, one heart, one mind, and one opponent at a time.

Crime stops in the Philippines when their national hero fights. The ongoing battle between the country’s army and a rebel group gets put on hold so that Pacquiao can represent them both.

The Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino hosted an estimated 11,061 for Pacquiao’s win against Marquez. They were Filipinos cheering on their compatriot and Mexicans who respected a capable conqueror.

Opponent after opponent, division after division, year after year, Pacquiao has taken on all comers and taken all. With another weight class ripe in his sights, the Filipino Firebomber is set to take flight again.

The 10 Count

1.  On the undercard, Steven Luevano continued to make his case for one of the top spots in Pacquiao’s former featherweight stomping grounds, outpointing hardnosed challenger Terdsak Jandaeng to retain the World Boxing Organization title.

Though all 29 of Jandaeng’s wins had come against relatively anonymous opposition, his ledger gained legitimacy on the basis of two previous defeats. In respective bouts in 2005 and 2006, Jandaeng went the distance with current 130-pound beltholder Joan Guzman and was stopped in seven against the aforementioned Marquez.

Some could say Jandaeng falls short when on the biggest stage, but the Thai fighter made sure Luevano wouldn’t underestimate him. With one minute remaining in the fourth round, Jandaeng sent his fellow southpaw crashing to the canvas with a big left hand. Luevano rose and adjusted, out-boxing his opponent while landing 397 of his 824 punches, including 240 jabs and more than half of his power shots. Jandaeng, meanwhile, only landed 89 punches over the entire 12 rounds. In the end, the scorecards reflected the statistics: 119-109, 119-109 and 118-109, all for Luevano.

With three others striving to be the best at 126 pounds – Robert Guerrero, Chris John, and Jorge Linares – these kinds of performances can only help make sure that when unification comes, Luevano will be involved.

2.  Dear Jim Lampley,

Was it truly appropriate for you to ask Larry Merchant, during round seven of Luevano-Jandaeng, what else he did while visiting Thailand (besides watching Muay Thai fights)?

Merchant’s response: “I’m not going to talk about the elephant in the room.”

3.  On a related note:

Dear Larry,

Are you Client-10?

4.  In the show’s televised opener, Pacquiao’s next opponent, lightweight beltholder David Diaz, beat Ramon Montano by majority decision in an over-the-limit, non-title 10-rounder.

Diaz had not fought since August, when he outpointed Erik Morales in what was probably the last appearance for “El Terrible.” With a potential Pacquiao bout in the balance, Diaz was put in with Montano, a capable, willing journeyman who had only knocked out one of his 15 prior victims.

Diaz outworked Montano on the inside for nearly the entire 30 minutes, and two of the three judges agreed, their tallies reading 99-91 and 97-93 for the Chicago native. Glenn Trowbridge somehow saw the action a 95-95 draw.

The lightweight division is on track to go forward without Diaz. Nate Campbell’s recent victory over Juan Diaz gives him the three other major sanctioning body belts, while Joel Casamayor and Michael Katsidis will meet Saturday for the “Ring Magazine” championship. That shouldn’t matter for the moment to David Diaz, though, not, at least, when he is set to face Pacquiao for his biggest payday to date.

5.  Fate smiles not on Bobby Pacquiao.

While his older brother has captured legitimate championships in three divisions and a world title in a fourth, the lesser-known sibling has toiled along as a journeyman, a Tommie Aaron to Manny’s Hank. On Saturday, Manny was able to take a split decision over a fellow pound-for-pound boxer in Marquez. Two days before, Bobby couldn’t even make it out of the first round.

Bobby Pacquiao battled it out for two minutes with undefeated lightweight prospect Urbano Antillon, but ultimately Antillon took over with a big left uppercut and a series of hooks, one of which went to Pacquiao’s liver and sent him down for the count.

This Pacquiao falls to 28-14-3, with 13 wins coming by way of knockout. His high point lasted for one year, a three-fight series between June 2005 and June 2006. Those bouts saw Pacquiao knock out Carlos Navarro, take a controversial split decision over Carlos Hernandez and then kayo Kevin Kelley. Since then, though, he’s lost three of his last four, getting disqualified against Hector Velazquez and put on the floor for the full 10 seconds by Antillon and Humberto Soto.

6.  Dodgeball, an occasional update: Aim Low said goodbye to esteemed player-coach Jake Berry – who is heading off to another newspaper, mind you, not another dodgeball team – with an Ernie Banks-style doubleheader. Alas, the night started as none other had this season: with Aim Low falling behind in the beginning. SBW Prime Target, eager to avenge a defeat from last year, scored first. Fortunately, that score would be their last. Aim Low rallied, pulling ahead and finishing the match as the 5-1 winner.

There was more to come.

The Gyroballers, having already lost twice this year to Aim Low, worked diligently to prevent a third. They played strong, taking the first two games against their weary opponents and ultimately building a 4-1 lead with six minutes remaining. Final score: 4-3. Team record: 4-2. This past week’s post-game beer of choice: Abita Purple Haze.

7.  In other action, Anders Hugger took a unanimous 12-round decision over former cruiserweight title challenger Louis Azille. For those somewhat amused by the surname, I humbly ask you to hold off on any references to certain clinch-happy fighters. Instead, just hope for the day the Danish prospect suffers a one-punch knockout. Why? So we can see this headline: “Hugger takes one in kisser.”

8.  Boxers Behaving Badly update: Courtroom denizen Harrison was sentenced last week to 200 hours of community service for his recent conviction on charges of disturbing the peace and resisting arrest in an April 2006 incident outside of a bar in Glasgow, Scotland, according to numerous reports from across the pond. Harrison was acquitted in February on a related charge of assaulting a police officer.

The former featherweight beltholder is scheduled to appear in a Spanish court soon on accusations that he attempted to steal a car and assaulted a police officer and another man. He is reportedly selling off his homes in order to cover his legal expenses.

An attempt to return to boxing has been put on hold, meanwhile, largely because Harrison can’t get his license back when the only fighting he’s doing is in the courtroom.

Harrison last appeared in the ring in November 2005, when he outpointed Nedal Hussein. After an eventful 2006 that saw multiple legal problems and reported struggles with alcohol and depression, Harrison was set to fight late in a title defense late that year against Nicky Cook, but he couldn’t get his weight under 133 pounds.

9.  Boxers’ Livestock Behaving Badly: Ike Quartey appeared in a Ghanaian court last week to account for damage one of his cows had allegedly done to a driver’s windshield and mirror, according to the country’s Daily Guide newspaper (via boxing writer Johnny Benz).

Quartey and herdsman Samuel Cofie pleaded not guilty to charges of allowing cattle to go astray and cause harm to property. Quartey is also facing additional charges relating to his alleged abusive and aggressive interaction with police officers.

The best part of the original story, however, is this sentence: “According to the police, the cows were still at large.”

10.  Hold on a second: Was that really the inaugural edition of “Boxers’ Livestock Behaving Badly”? Now issuing a cattle call for future entrants. Next week? Roy Jones and his roosters.

David P. Greisman’s weekly column, “Fighting Words,” appears every Monday on BoxingScene.com. He may be reached for questions and comments at fightingwords1@gmail.com