?Family first.? - Pacquiao
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 28 Jun 2011
World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao had to leave his mother and five siblings in far away Mindanao to try his luck in Manila at a young age and eventually became a boxer and subsequently the pound-for-pound king, winning eight titles in as many weight divisions.
After 15 years and nearly 60 fights the Filipino ring hero earned millions of dollars and named one of the richest athletes in the world by the prestigious Forbes Magazine.
He was also elected a a member of the Lower House representing his wife Jinkee?s province of Sarangani. It would surprise no one, therefore, that at this stage of his career, he would choose his family first before a lucrative offer endorsement from one of the world?s biggest firms.
?It?s family first before anything else,? Pacquiao told Malaya Business Insight by way of explaining his decision to postpone a meeting with sporting apparel giant Nike top brass Phil Knight.
The meeting with Knight and other Nike top executives was scheduled last week to discuss a planned marketing promotion of ?Pacman? product lines using Nike products. The deal is reportedly as rich, if not richer than those of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
?Napakalimit ko nang na-i-ignore and pamilya ko, ang asawa ko, mga anak ko. Tuwing may laban ako, naiiwan ko sila. Ngayon may darating na naman akong laban sa Nobyembre at kapag nag-simula na akong mag-ensayo, maiiwan ko na naman sila,? the Pacman said.
?So, I thought to postpone the meeting in the meantime and re-schedule it some other time before I start my training program for my fight against Marquez,? he referred to his coming November 12 (November 13 in Manila) third date with Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez.
Pacquiao, actually, was just confirming an earlier statement by his promoter, Bob Arum, who broke the news of his begging off temporarily from the meeting. The Hall of Fame promoter cited as reason his ward?s earlier promise to Jinkee and children for a vacation.
"It was just that Manny couldn't make it because he had promised his family a one-week vacation with them at this beach resort," Arum told Boxingscene.com's Lem Satterfield.
"But they're working on it. It's a huge, huge merchandise deal for all over the world. It was supposed to happen on June 18. But we had to postpone that meeting until sometime in July," he added.
Arum, meanwhile, also announced that Pacquiao?s coming fight with Marquez that will complete the two boxers? trilogy can earn a record 1.6 million buys which stands to be a the biggest for the Filipino, adding the planned global media tour to hype the much-awaited confrontation.
"Pacquiao has long ceased to only be a product in the Philippines, the United States or Mexico. He is already a global icon, and therefore, we are going to travel the world [promoting] this great fight. We'll start this in August and end it in September, with the time required for both fighters to return to their camps. It will be a great fight, and we expect 1.6 million homes on pay-per-view," he said.
Pacquiao's closest effort to date came in his most recent fight against Shane Mosley, with whom he achieved sales somewhere above 1.3 million
The history behind their rivalry could also help, Arum said in reference to the duo?s previous two fights that had left many questions.
The first fight in 2004 between Pacquiao and Marquez saw the Filipino knock the Mexican down three times in the first round but was ruled a draw,
The second fight four years later was supposed to settle the score,failed to achieve it's aim. Once again fans witnessed a thrilling back and forth encounter that saw Marquez on the seat of his pants once in the third but Pacquiao eventually settled for a narrow split decision win.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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