{"id":417733,"date":"2011-05-05T00:42:16","date_gmt":"2011-05-05T00:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/05\/05\/a-decade-after-his-us-debut-pacquiao-a-sensation-ap\/"},"modified":"2011-05-05T00:42:16","modified_gmt":"2011-05-05T00:42:16","slug":"a-decade-after-his-us-debut-pacquiao-a-sensation-ap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/05\/a-decade-after-his-us-debut-pacquiao-a-sensation-ap\/","title":{"rendered":"A decade after his US debut Pacquiao a sensation (AP)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

LAS VEGAS (AP)\u2014It was 10 years ago this summer and Oscar De La Hoya was the big attraction, as he often was on Saturday nights in this gambling town. Many of the high-rollers who came to watch De La Hoya fight Javier Castillejo hadn\u2019t even made their way to their $1,000 ringside seats at the MGM Grand hotel when a 121-pounder from the Philippines made his U.S. debut.<\/p>\n

Manny Pacquiao had taken the fight on two weeks\u2019 notice. His chances of beating rising star Lehlohonolo Ledwaba were considered so slim that oddsmakers refused to even put a line up on it.<\/p>\n

Pacquiao would give Ledwaba such a beating that the fight didn\u2019t last six rounds. Then he was gone, leaving the arena like the other undercard fighters to clear the way for the main event.<\/p>\n

Those who watched that night saw promise, sure. But no one in the arena would have believed what was to come.<\/p>\n

A decade later, Pacquiao is the star, fighting Saturday night in the same ring where he had his coming out party. He\u2019ll make a minimum of $20 million to take on Shane Mosley in a bout that should only further cement his place among the great fighters of his time.<\/p>\n

And he\u2019ll do it wearing yellow gloves, because there are fights that are bigger than those taking place in the ring.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll my life I\u2019ve had to fight. As a child, I had to fight just to eat,\u201d Pacquiao said. \u201cThe biggest fight in my life is not in boxing. The biggest fight in my life is how to end poverty in my country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The yellow gloves to promote unity against poverty aren\u2019t just a symbolic gesture. Neither was getting elected to congress in the Philippines.<\/p>\n

Pacquiao is celebrated like no other Filipino athlete. But his legacy may one day be more important for what he does outside the ring.<\/p>\n

He hands out money to strangers for the asking. He bought land recently to build subsidized housing for the homeless. And he went directly to Philippine president Benigno Aquino III to ask for $5 million for a badly needed hospital in his Sarangani Province.<\/p>\n

He got it, because no one other than Floyd Mayweather Jr. has ever said no to Manny Pacquiao.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve said it many times,\u201d promoter Bob Arum said. \u201cThe Philippines has a social safety net and they call it Manny Pacquiao.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boxing, of course, is Pacquiao\u2019s day job, and it\u2019s one he\u2019s excelled at in recent years. He gave De La Hoya such a beating a few years back that he sent him into retirement, and he\u2019s put on a string of sensational performances against some of the biggest names around.<\/p>\n

The only name missing is Mayweather, though Pacquiao seems tired of the topic. Mayweather hasn\u2019t fought in a year and shows little interest of getting in the ring with Pacquiao in what could be boxing\u2019s richest fight ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the kind of person who doesn\u2019t want to talk about someone behind his back,\u201d Pacquiao said. \u201cHe did his best in boxing. He contributed to the history of boxing. Let\u2019s talk about the fight on Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n

The problem is, you can\u2019t talk about Saturday\u2019s fight without talking about Mayweather. Part of the reason for that is that Mayweather dominated Mosley in winning a decision last May and Pacquiao\u2019s performance against the same foe will be used as a measurement for who would hold the upper hand should the two eventually meet.<\/p>\n

Assuming they ever meet, that is. Mayweather has legal issues and he also seems to have issues with the fact there\u2019s a fighter out there would have a legitimate chance of handing him his first professional defeat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he (Mayweather) doesn\u2019t participate in an event pretty soon he\u2019s going to become totally irrelevant,\u201d Arum said.<\/p>\n

Right now, though, Pacquiao is just thinking about Mosley, who may give him a better fight than most boxing fans expect. Yes, he\u2019s 39 in a young man\u2019s sport and, yes, he looked bad in his last two fights. But Mosley still has the speed to match up with Pacquiao and he\u2019s never been knocked out in his career.<\/p>\n

Pacquiao warned at Wednesday\u2019s final prefight press conference that Mosley is dangerous. But he didn\u2019t seem especially fearful as the two boxers posed chin-to-chin for photographers and Pacquiao tried unsuccessfully to stop from bursting out laughing.<\/p>\n

When they finished, Pacquiao walked over to the edge of the stage in the showroom at the MGM, leaned over and shook hands with Mosley\u2019s father, Jack, and several other friends and family members. In his suit he looked more politician than fighter, someone pressing the flesh for their votes rather than preparing to beat up on their guy.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s done remarkable things as a fighter since making his debut here a decade ago, made more money than he ever thought imaginable. The best thing about Pacquiao, though, may be how he\u2019s grown in stature as a man.<\/p>\n

Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org or at http:\/\/twitter.com\/TimDahlberg<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

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