PACQUIAO AND OBAMA
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 25 Jan 2009
There is a parallelism between the careers of Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao and the new United States President Barack Obama. Even if Pacquiao is with boxing and Obama is with public service, still we can relate their respective lives and their achievements.
Pacquiao is boxing?s pound-for-pound king; Obama is the leader of the free world.
Pacquiao won overwhelmingly over boxing giant Oscar de la Hoya in the Dream Match; Obama won by a landslide during the 2008 elections over rival John McCain.
Pacquiao engaged Juan Manuel Marquez in a fight twice which resulted first in a draw then a very in a close split decision; Obama faced Hillary Clinton in one of the closest and fiercely fought primaries in the history of the US elections.
Pacquiao is hailed as the fighter out to save the popularity of boxing from its decline after de la Hoya?s debacle; Obama is on an enormous task to save America and the world from the global recession after President George Bush?s catastrophic war on terror.
Pacquiao emerged from humble beginnings of selling ?pan de sal? in General Santos to world boxing prominence; Obama overcame the last race barrier by becoming the first black US president.
Pacquiao is the 2008 Fighter of the Year by the Ring Magazine and other well-liked sports media and the ESPN 2008 International Athlete of the Year; Obama was chosen by Time Magazine as its Person of the Year for his historic candidacy and election.
Pacquiao failed in his bid for a seat in the House of Representatives for South Cotabato in 2007; Obama had an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for Illinois in 2000.
Pacquiao?s parents separated when he was young and his father left him to his mother, Dionisia; Obama's parents separated when he was two years old and divorced in 1964 and he was left to his mother and grandmother.
Pacquiao played basketball since his youth and now with his General Santos Pacman team; Obama played basketball as a member of his high school's varsity team.
Pacquiao is the darling the world sports media due to his amazing charisma; Obama?s charm mesmerized the international media especially his articulate speech delivery.
Great boxing legends, Hollywood stars, and NBA players want to be with Pacquiao; Leaders of the free countries want to be with Obama.
Jinkee never fails to attract Pacman fans whenever they go; Michelle becomes a fashion icon after her husband?s inauguration.
Pacquiao never had a formal basic education because of extreme poverty, but has now pursued a college education in Notre Dame in General Santos and became a model of the Department of Education; Obama, as a teenager, experienced inconsistency because his commitment to basketball was bigger than his interest in school, but went on to graduate in the Columbia University and the Harvard Law School.
Pacquiao was into gambling and other vices before he was reformed by his religious faith; Obama admitted that he used alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine during his teenage years and identified his high-school drug use as his "greatest moral failure."
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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