Pacquiao: Former Kickboxer - Rumor or Fact?

Probably. I'm sure other martial arts have an imprint there, so before Pacquiao became Pacquiao trying other martial arts wouldn't have been past him as long as he could get money and eat.

If there's no mention of it from a reliable source then i doubt he was.

when he went to manila, the rich people in manila use to kick him because he was poor

Don't know when the story of Pac was a kick boxer began but i do remember the late Steward mentioning it. He said Pac's calves were due to him starting kick boxing at a young age and referring Pac's country that it was normal to start kick boxing as a kid/teen. I believed he confused Pac's country, Philippines, with Thailand. Young kids start out to train in the art of Muay Thai. lol, possibly.

Don't know when the story of Pac was a kick boxer began but i do remember the late Steward mentioning it. He said Pac's calves were due to him starting kick boxing at a young age and referring Pac's country that it was normal to start kick boxing as a kid/teen. I believed he confused Pac's country, Philippines, with Thailand. Young kids start out to train in the art of Muay Thai.

Maybe he started training as a kickboxer but quickly switched to boxing?

he was a box kicker.

In Pacquiao's most recent HBO Highlight reel, Jim Lampley mentions that Pacquiao went from "Tiny Kickboxer to Flyweight boxer". Does anyone know if this true? I haven't seen any concrete evidence of this. Lampley sleep with Pacquaio action figure and think Pacquiao is supahman.

It would have been a neat little back story had it been true.

he started boxing as a kid and turned pro early...when was he a kickboxer?

He was never a kickboxer.

Manny has openly said he wasn't, I believe its in his bio too. I believe it all stemmed from a reality show in Philippines called Extra Challenge. http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/7633/89231230738772500135004.jpg Here is the video from the show 8.04

Yeah I believe it's just a rumor. He might have practiced it before but there is no concrete proof that he fought as a kickboxer. This isn't even mentioned in his biography. It just mentions that Pac started boxing at a really young age and used it to get by.