Pacquiao on Time Magazine!
It seems like the world just can’t get enough of Manny Pacquiao now. After his amusing guesting on the late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live, Pacquiao is now the cover of TIME Magazine Asia Edition. For its November issue, titled The Great Hope, Pacquiao is now dubbed as the great savior of boxing.
The prestige of being on the cover of the magazine is usually given to Presidents, World Leaders, or Nobel winners who have a huge impact on the world.
“Manny Pacquiao, now 30, is the latest savior of boxing, a fighter with enough charisma, intelligence and backstory to help rescue a sport lost in the labyrinth of pay-per-view,” wrote Ishaan Tharoor and Howard Choa-Ehoan of TIME.
They also added: “In the Philippines, Pacquiao is a demigod. The claim goes that when his fights are broadcast live, the crime rate plummets because everyone in the country is glued to a screen. His private life as well as the ins and outs and ups and downs of his training regimen are tabloid fodder; his much brooded political ambitions are a dilemma many Filipinos feel as existentially as Hamlet’s soliloquy: To be or not to be … a Congressman?”
They concluded the aricle with, “(But) Can Manny Pacquiao continue to be the most loved man in the Philippines when he quits the ring and enters the cockpit of politics? That is going to be the fight of his life.”
Pacquiao is overwhelmed by the recognition that was given to him. He just couldn’t believe all the blessings and the praises that he had been receiving, looking back from where he had begun to where he is now.
“I absolutely had no idea that when I started my career in boxing, to provide a better life for myself and my family, that I would now be where I am today and on the cover of TIME Magazine,” said Pacquiao.
“A fighter’s dream is to win a world title and gain financial stability. But what is happening to me now is the most humbling experience of my life. It is a great honor for me to be the face of my people and to let everyone know we are a small but mighty country. I have great pride for all of the Filipinos living throughout the world and it is these people that I fight for each and every time I step into the ring,” he added.
Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao is the Filipino athlete to be in the cover of TIME Magazine. The last Filipino to given the same distinction was the late former president and the Philippine symbol of democracy Corazon Aquino first when she toppled and won against the dictator President Ferdinand Marcos and, just recently after her death this year.
But Pacquiao is not the first boxer to be on the cover of TIME. Former champions who have been on the cover in the US are: 1
1923 – Jack Dempsey, 1926 – James J. Tunney, 1929 – Max Schmeling, 1931 – Primo Carnera, 1941 – Joe Louis, 1951 – Sugar Ray Robinson, 1963 – Cassius Clay, 1971 – Muhammad Ali/Joe Frazier, 1978 – Muhammad Ali, and in 1988 – Mike Tyson.
Other athletes who have been given the same recognition are: 1989- Pete Rose, 1996- Magic Johnson, 1998- Michael Jordan , 2000- Marion Jones , 2000- Tiger Woods , 2001- sisters Serena and Venus Williams, 2008- Michael Phelps, and 2008- Lebron James.
But this year, Pacquiao was also featured in the TIME magazine in its 100 Most Influential People in the World. He joined the likes of US President Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Korean Pop Star Rain, US Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton, George Clooney, Tiger Woods, High School Musical’s Zac Efron, and Hudson River hero Chelsey Sullenberger.
Pacquiao will be fighting his seventh world title against Miguel Cotto on November 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for the WBO welterweight title. You can Watch Pacquiao Vs Cotto on this site live on the day of the fight.
