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If you’re an American fight fan who questions Manny Pacquiao’s ability to become a crossover star in the United States, consider this:
• He was a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live earlier this week.
• This Monday, he will be on the cover of Time magazine’s Asia edition (as a finalist of the “2009 Time 100,” the publication’s list of the world’s most influential people).
• His mug, partially covered by Nike’s new AW77 Hoodie, is on one of the bigger billboards in downtown San Francisco (as part of the sportswear company’s advertising campaign that includes such celebrity-athletes as Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and Maria Sharapova).
Still not convinced that the Filipino icon, who challenges Miguel Cotto for the Puerto Rican’s welterweight title on Nov. 14, can become a household name in America?
Allow me to give you one more example of his ever-growing popularity.
As I walked to my car following Cotto’s media workout in L.A. on Tuesday, I was stopped by two elderly African-American women in an SUV. They were curious about all the commotion outside of the Pound4Pound Gym.
I told them that "the boxer Miguel Cotto had just held an open workout for the media."
The lady in the passenger seat replied: “Miguel who?”
“Cotto,” I told her. “He fights Manny Pacquiao next Saturday.”
Her eyes lit up with the mention of Pacquiao’s name.
“Oh!” she said as she turned to the driver, “he’s the one who’s fighting Manny Pacquiao!”
Folks, the crossover has already begun.
That begs the question of how big can Pacquiao get?
“Every time he beats the odds, he gets a little bigger,” said Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, who has witnessed his star fighter’s rapid evolution from a hero in the Philippines to one of the best known boxers worldwide following one-sided victories over Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton.
Roach isn’t surprised that the two women I encountered, and scores of other folks who don’t fit the profile of the typical fight fan, are familiar with Pacquiao.
“It’s because of the popularity of the fighters he’s just beat (De La Hoya and Hatton) and because of HBO’s 24/7 shows that led into those fights,” Roach said before Pacquiao’s media workout at the Wild Card Boxing Club on Wednesday.
“The exposure of 24/7 brings Manny outside of the boxing world. It’s brought me out, too. The other day the manager for KISS and Bon Jovi called the gym. He asked if some of the members from both groups could drop by this week. I told him that Manny needs to focus on the fight and that it’s important that we wind up the camp without distractions.
“He told me ‘They don’t want to meet Pacquiao, they want to meet you.’”
If Jon Bon Jovi or Gene Simmons happened to drop by the Wild Card during Wednesday’s media workout, it wouldn’t have been that strange of an occurrence.
Roach’s gym is every bit as famous as its owner. Notables from the entertainment industry pop in as often as hardcore fans from around the globe do.
During Wednesday’s open workout, the Wild Card seemed almost like a popular nightclub, complete with its own doormen, chief of security Rob Peters and gym photographer Miguel Salazar, screening fans from the working media.
“We try to control it as much as we can and we accommodate it as much as we can,” Roach said of the constant flow of fans to his gym. “Manny signs autographs for 2½ hours every day after his workouts. I’ll take pictures with people all day if I have the time.
“It’s a fine line we’re walking right now. We don’t want to turn away fans. They’re the ones who buy the tickets and buy the pay per views, but I admit that it’s getting harder and harder to run the gym.”
Has the daily presence of HBO’s 24/7 film crew and the endless interview and appearance requests become detrimental to Pacquiao’s preparation?
Not yet, Roach maintained.
“Manny’s always got a lot of things going on but once he’s in the gym he’s all business,” Roach said. “Despite having to be in the Philippines for four and half weeks and all the distractions, from the typhoon to having to move from Baguio to Manila, he never missed a day of training.
“Even those four days in Manila when he was being pulled in every direction by the politicians, he still worked his ass off.
“Yesterday we worked 16 rounds on the mitts with no rest. I think he’s in better shape for Cotto than he was for Hatton.”
Urbano Antillon, one of Pacquiao’s main sparring partners in this camp and for the Hatton fight, backs Roach’s claim.
“In the middle of his camp for Hatton I remember him getting winded when we sparred,” said Antillon, who spent four weeks in the Philippines and continues to work with Pacquiao at the Wild Card. “That hasn’t happened in this camp, not even during our first week of sparring. He was in fighting shape before he left the Philippines. Right now, I think he’s in the best shape I’ve ever seen him in.
“I was in the gym when he worked 16 or 17 rounds with Freddie. Manny wanted to go more rounds, but Freddie held him back. I did my entire workout while they were doing mitts with no breaks. I can honestly say I’ve never seen anyone work as hard as Manny does.”
Pacquiao’s Spartan work ethic is obviously one of the keys to his success, but his ability to chill out and have a good time once he leaves the gym is part of what makes him special.
He’s as easy going in public as he is intense in the gym.
Nothing seems to stress him out.
Between fights he’ll shoot two movies and cut an album. During camp, he’ll sing on a nationally televised talk show and think nothing of it. Pacquiao enjoys these outside endeavors.
“I’m having fun,” Pacquiao told a dressing room full of boxing writers before his Wednesday workout. “I had fun on Jimmy Kimmel’s show. He’s a funny guy. I sang on the show and I thought I did alright.”
Maybe Pacquiao has the kind of personality that enables one to endure or even rise above the many pitfalls that accompany fame and success.
No matter how busy or complicated his life becomes, he remains a simple man, happy-go-lucky by nature.
His spiritual beliefs also keep him grounded.
Pacquiao, a devout Catholic, says he handles his success because he accepts everything that happens in his life as God’s will.
“Everything that has happened to me in boxing has been a gift from God,” he said. “The fame and the wealth is all from Him.”
If Pacquiao is victorious once again on Nov. 14, his profile will continue to increase in the U.S. and elsewhere, but he appears to have the right mentality to deal with it.
If he defeats Cotto in the spectacular fashion that Roach predicts, his star might rival that of the best known American boxer, Floyd Mayweather Jr. -- which would, of course, set up the inevitable showdown between the two pound-for-pound kings.
However, Pacquiao refuses to count his chickens before they’ve hatched. He wouldn’t comment on Mayweather when asked about the potential matchup.
“I’m not thinking about that fight,” Pacquiao said. “I have to concentrate on this fight. This is not an easy fight for me. Cotto will be tough.”
Those who believe that De La Hoya was ripe for the taking and that Hatton was overrated view Puerto Rico’s two-time welterweight titleholder as Pacquiao’s most formidable foe since he left the junior lightweight division.
Roach concedes that Cotto’s size will be a challenge.
“Manny’s best weight is 140 pounds,” he said. “We put on weight because the biggest fights are at welterweight. If there were big fights at junior welterweight, that’s where we would be. He’s on protein shakes to be at 149 pounds now. As we take him off the protein, the weight comes off.
“He’ll have two meals before the weigh-in and come in at 145 on the dot. There’s no doubt that Cotto is the naturally bigger man. He’s bigger and he’s physically stronger, but that doesn’t win fights.”
Strategy wins fights, and Roach believes he has the right game plan to enable Pacquiao to dissect Cotto.
“Cotto’s got a good left hook,” Roach said. “That’s the danger punch. He’s a converted southpaw like Oscar, so we have to take that out of the fight.”
Roach said he’s happy with the work that Shawn Porter, a stout junior middleweight prospect with a powerful hook, has given Pacquiao.
“Manny and Shawn going at in the 12-by-12-foot ring we had in Manila was exciting stuff,” Roach said.
Porter, a 2008 U.S. Olympic alternate from Akron, Ohio, said Pacquiao is ready for Cotto’s money punch.
“He’s aware of the hook,” said Porter, who holds a 10-0 (8) record. “He always kept his right hand up no matter what he did in the ring.”
Porter said Pacquiao’s a lot harder to hit than he appears.
“It’s not just his speed and footwork that makes him elusive, he’s also hard to predict,” the 22-year-old prospect said. “You never know what he’s going to do next because he’s kind of unorthodox and he throws a lot of off-angle punches.”
Porter interrupted a busy fight schedule to travel to the Philippines with Team Pacquiao. He’s fought 10 times since he turned pro last October and it was his goal to fight 12 times in his first 12 months in the pro ranks, but said the opportunity to spar with Pacquiao was too good to pass up.
“It was an honor to be a part of Pacquiao’s training camp and I think it’s paid off in exposure,” he said. “I think some of his fame rubbed off on me. I just started boxing but I’m already getting e-mails from Filipino fans.”
If you’re an American fight fan who questions Manny Pacquiao’s ability to become a crossover star in the United States, consider this:
• He was a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live earlier this week.
• This Monday, he will be on the cover of Time magazine’s Asia edition (as a finalist of the “2009 Time 100,” the publication’s list of the world’s most influential people).
• His mug, partially covered by Nike’s new AW77 Hoodie, is on one of the bigger billboards in downtown San Francisco (as part of the sportswear company’s advertising campaign that includes such celebrity-athletes as Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and Maria Sharapova).
Still not convinced that the Filipino icon, who challenges Miguel Cotto for the Puerto Rican’s welterweight title on Nov. 14, can become a household name in America?
Allow me to give you one more example of his ever-growing popularity.
As I walked to my car following Cotto’s media workout in L.A. on Tuesday, I was stopped by two elderly African-American women in an SUV. They were curious about all the commotion outside of the Pound4Pound Gym.
I told them that "the boxer Miguel Cotto had just held an open workout for the media."
The lady in the passenger seat replied: “Miguel who?”
“Cotto,” I told her. “He fights Manny Pacquiao next Saturday.”
Her eyes lit up with the mention of Pacquiao’s name.
“Oh!” she said as she turned to the driver, “he’s the one who’s fighting Manny Pacquiao!”
Folks, the crossover has already begun.
That begs the question of how big can Pacquiao get?
“Every time he beats the odds, he gets a little bigger,” said Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, who has witnessed his star fighter’s rapid evolution from a hero in the Philippines to one of the best known boxers worldwide following one-sided victories over Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton.
Roach isn’t surprised that the two women I encountered, and scores of other folks who don’t fit the profile of the typical fight fan, are familiar with Pacquiao.
“It’s because of the popularity of the fighters he’s just beat (De La Hoya and Hatton) and because of HBO’s 24/7 shows that led into those fights,” Roach said before Pacquiao’s media workout at the Wild Card Boxing Club on Wednesday.
“The exposure of 24/7 brings Manny outside of the boxing world. It’s brought me out, too. The other day the manager for KISS and Bon Jovi called the gym. He asked if some of the members from both groups could drop by this week. I told him that Manny needs to focus on the fight and that it’s important that we wind up the camp without distractions.
“He told me ‘They don’t want to meet Pacquiao, they want to meet you.’”
If Jon Bon Jovi or Gene Simmons happened to drop by the Wild Card during Wednesday’s media workout, it wouldn’t have been that strange of an occurrence.
Roach’s gym is every bit as famous as its owner. Notables from the entertainment industry pop in as often as hardcore fans from around the globe do.
During Wednesday’s open workout, the Wild Card seemed almost like a popular nightclub, complete with its own doormen, chief of security Rob Peters and gym photographer Miguel Salazar, screening fans from the working media.
“We try to control it as much as we can and we accommodate it as much as we can,” Roach said of the constant flow of fans to his gym. “Manny signs autographs for 2½ hours every day after his workouts. I’ll take pictures with people all day if I have the time.
“It’s a fine line we’re walking right now. We don’t want to turn away fans. They’re the ones who buy the tickets and buy the pay per views, but I admit that it’s getting harder and harder to run the gym.”
Has the daily presence of HBO’s 24/7 film crew and the endless interview and appearance requests become detrimental to Pacquiao’s preparation?
Not yet, Roach maintained.
“Manny’s always got a lot of things going on but once he’s in the gym he’s all business,” Roach said. “Despite having to be in the Philippines for four and half weeks and all the distractions, from the typhoon to having to move from Baguio to Manila, he never missed a day of training.
“Even those four days in Manila when he was being pulled in every direction by the politicians, he still worked his ass off.
“Yesterday we worked 16 rounds on the mitts with no rest. I think he’s in better shape for Cotto than he was for Hatton.”
Urbano Antillon, one of Pacquiao’s main sparring partners in this camp and for the Hatton fight, backs Roach’s claim.
“In the middle of his camp for Hatton I remember him getting winded when we sparred,” said Antillon, who spent four weeks in the Philippines and continues to work with Pacquiao at the Wild Card. “That hasn’t happened in this camp, not even during our first week of sparring. He was in fighting shape before he left the Philippines. Right now, I think he’s in the best shape I’ve ever seen him in.
“I was in the gym when he worked 16 or 17 rounds with Freddie. Manny wanted to go more rounds, but Freddie held him back. I did my entire workout while they were doing mitts with no breaks. I can honestly say I’ve never seen anyone work as hard as Manny does.”
Pacquiao’s Spartan work ethic is obviously one of the keys to his success, but his ability to chill out and have a good time once he leaves the gym is part of what makes him special.
He’s as easy going in public as he is intense in the gym.
Nothing seems to stress him out.
Between fights he’ll shoot two movies and cut an album. During camp, he’ll sing on a nationally televised talk show and think nothing of it. Pacquiao enjoys these outside endeavors.
“I’m having fun,” Pacquiao told a dressing room full of boxing writers before his Wednesday workout. “I had fun on Jimmy Kimmel’s show. He’s a funny guy. I sang on the show and I thought I did alright.”
Maybe Pacquiao has the kind of personality that enables one to endure or even rise above the many pitfalls that accompany fame and success.
No matter how busy or complicated his life becomes, he remains a simple man, happy-go-lucky by nature.
His spiritual beliefs also keep him grounded.
Pacquiao, a devout Catholic, says he handles his success because he accepts everything that happens in his life as God’s will.
“Everything that has happened to me in boxing has been a gift from God,” he said. “The fame and the wealth is all from Him.”
If Pacquiao is victorious once again on Nov. 14, his profile will continue to increase in the U.S. and elsewhere, but he appears to have the right mentality to deal with it.
If he defeats Cotto in the spectacular fashion that Roach predicts, his star might rival that of the best known American boxer, Floyd Mayweather Jr. -- which would, of course, set up the inevitable showdown between the two pound-for-pound kings.
However, Pacquiao refuses to count his chickens before they’ve hatched. He wouldn’t comment on Mayweather when asked about the potential matchup.
“I’m not thinking about that fight,” Pacquiao said. “I have to concentrate on this fight. This is not an easy fight for me. Cotto will be tough.”
Those who believe that De La Hoya was ripe for the taking and that Hatton was overrated view Puerto Rico’s two-time welterweight titleholder as Pacquiao’s most formidable foe since he left the junior lightweight division.
Roach concedes that Cotto’s size will be a challenge.
“Manny’s best weight is 140 pounds,” he said. “We put on weight because the biggest fights are at welterweight. If there were big fights at junior welterweight, that’s where we would be. He’s on protein shakes to be at 149 pounds now. As we take him off the protein, the weight comes off.
“He’ll have two meals before the weigh-in and come in at 145 on the dot. There’s no doubt that Cotto is the naturally bigger man. He’s bigger and he’s physically stronger, but that doesn’t win fights.”
Strategy wins fights, and Roach believes he has the right game plan to enable Pacquiao to dissect Cotto.
“Cotto’s got a good left hook,” Roach said. “That’s the danger punch. He’s a converted southpaw like Oscar, so we have to take that out of the fight.”
Roach said he’s happy with the work that Shawn Porter, a stout junior middleweight prospect with a powerful hook, has given Pacquiao.
“Manny and Shawn going at in the 12-by-12-foot ring we had in Manila was exciting stuff,” Roach said.
Porter, a 2008 U.S. Olympic alternate from Akron, Ohio, said Pacquiao is ready for Cotto’s money punch.
“He’s aware of the hook,” said Porter, who holds a 10-0 (8) record. “He always kept his right hand up no matter what he did in the ring.”
Porter said Pacquiao’s a lot harder to hit than he appears.
“It’s not just his speed and footwork that makes him elusive, he’s also hard to predict,” the 22-year-old prospect said. “You never know what he’s going to do next because he’s kind of unorthodox and he throws a lot of off-angle punches.”
Porter interrupted a busy fight schedule to travel to the Philippines with Team Pacquiao. He’s fought 10 times since he turned pro last October and it was his goal to fight 12 times in his first 12 months in the pro ranks, but said the opportunity to spar with Pacquiao was too good to pass up.
“It was an honor to be a part of Pacquiao’s training camp and I think it’s paid off in exposure,” he said. “I think some of his fame rubbed off on me. I just started boxing but I’m already getting e-mails from Filipino fans.”