Manny Pacquiao - or Pacman to his millions of fans - will defend his WBO welterweight title against Joshua Clottey this Saturday. The ultimate card, which might come next year, is Pacquiao v. Floyd Mayweather. If the fight comes together, it could be one of the highest purses in boxing history.
Pacman is undoubtedly the Philippines most famous athlete and probably one of its most famous citizens. In 2008 he served as the country's flag bearer during the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, even though he was not a competitor in the games themselves. He was listed at #57 in the 2009 Forbes Celebrity 100 - between Jim Carrey and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Also in 2009, he was a finalist in Time magazine's Top 100 list of influential people. Endorsed by Nike, Manny is also a frequent product pitchman, and sometime singer/actor. There is speculation that he will run for public office upon his retirement from boxing.
While I have heard of Pacman, I didn't understand the passion associated with his fans. That is until one of my coworkers, a native Filipino, kept asking me each day if I had seen the pre-fight press conferences of his last fight, the fight itself, the post-fight interviews, Hilary Clinton's prediction that Pacman would win, etc. He was so enthusiastic, and I found myself getting more excited just listening to him, so I started checking the internet for bout results and fan reaction.
Read more about Pacman at Manny's Official Site:
http://pacman.craveonline.com/
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