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Re: Pacquiao will visit Manchester on March 1 then London
link --> Manny Pacquiao proves game for a laugh - Times Online
Then, from the slightly broken English, he changes into a well-rehearsed Scottish accent. “I was born and raised in Scotland,” he said, as his audience breaks up in laughter. “Our hero is William Wallace. This coming May I am fighting for freedom against the English man.” Pacquiao likes to laugh.
Manny Pacquiao laughs when people say that one day he will be his country's President, but no one is joking. Pacquiao has been described as the most powerful man in the Philippines, with Freddie Roach, his American trainer, second. No surprise, then, that when Pacquiao came to London, the Filipino ambassador came along to share the stage. One day Pacquiao might be his boss.
Pacquiao, widely regarded as the world's best pound-for-pound boxer, was at the Imperial War Museum in South London yesterday to announce his bout with Ricky Hatton in Las Vegas on May 2. Hatton is Great Britain's most popular boxer, but his fame pales next to Pacquiao's in his homeland.
Warm, friendly, with a charming smile, it is not difficult to see why Pacquiao is so loved. The Philippines stops when he boxes. Even fighting in the 40-year war between government forces and communist rebels ceases. He carries the hopes of his country wherever he goes. At a fan rally in Manchester on Saturday, the Filipino support made more noise than Hatton's. “It was like Mannychester,” Pacquiao said.
“When he boxes, every cinema and municipal hall in the Philippines is sold out,” Bob Arum, his promoter, said. “People can watch it on television for nothing, but they play the first round, then they have 15 minutes of commercials, then they run the second round. It's the maddest thing. If you want to see it in real time, you have to go to the cinema and pay $10 [about £7].”
While Hatton is an accomplished after-dinner speaker, Pacquiao has acted and has his own one-man shows featuring comedy and singing. He also plays the guitar and piano and has had a No1 hit at home, with a song called This Fight Is For You.
As a child Pacquiao often slept on the streets and got by on one meal a day. “When I started fighting I was 12 years old,” he said. “I was paid 50 pesos, about $1. I gave it to my mother. We all made money to try to pay for food.” For his bout against Hatton, he has a guarantee of $12million.
The 30-year-old gives much of his money away to help the poor of General Santos City, his home town, “He is too generous,” Arum said.
To help others is why Pacquiao seeks a career in politics when he hangs up his gloves. “He will be President within ten years,” Arum added.
“Maybe Congress,” Pacquiao said, with touching modesty. “I'm popular but I have to show to the people that I have a good heart and my intentions are to help them. I'm not shy to tell my life before because I want to give inspiration and show Manny Pacquiao from nothing to something. If you live with God and work hard, you can get success in your life.”
He is on his first trip to the UK, but is something of an Anglophile, having named his most recent daughter Queen Elizabeth. “I like Queen Elizabeth,” he said when asked why. “You love your Queen, right?”
Then, from the slightly broken English, he changes into a well-rehearsed Scottish accent. “I was born and raised in Scotland,” he said, as his audience breaks up in laughter. “Our hero is William Wallace. This coming May I am fighting for freedom against the English man.” Pacquiao likes to laugh.
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Originally Posted by SaddoBoxer
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