Manny Pacquiao’s Filipino rags to riches story is legendary, a true hero of the fight game in professional boxing but he started somewhere before that.
Like all fighters do.
In amateur boxing.
Without grass roots boxing there is no big stars of pro boxing, at the end of the day.
Pacquiao Reveals For The First Time The Early Days Of Filipino Amateur Boxing Politics And Getting His First License
Speaking to George Janko, Pacquiao said of starting out in boxing in his country:
“You know, it’s funny, I started my amateur boxing when I was 12 years old, applying to be part of the Philippines team for the Olympics. But I didn’t get in because of a lot of politics. Even the guy I beat in a fight made it to the team instead of me. Yeah, God had a different journey for me. I was 16 back then and disappointed, so I told my coach, Mambo, that I had no luck in amateur boxing and decided to turn pro. He said, “Turn pro? You’re only 16!” I told him, “Okay, we’ll say I’m 18.” They didn’t check IDs back then—no email or anything. I said my birth certificate would follow from my province, which is a one-and-a-half-hour flight away, though back then it was a three-to-four-day boat ride. They gave me a license but asked for the birth certificate after the fight. After I beat my opponent one-sided, they forgot about it. That was 1995, and by 1998, at 19, I became a world champion—just before my birthday. They didn’t ask for the birth certificate anymore after that.”
Things turned out okay afterwards.
Getting that first license might not have been easy at the time and Pacquiao had to go to places like Japan as well in the early pro days.
That said, it was worth it.
Look where he is now.
Pacquiao is now a hall of famer at 46 and a literal living legend.
He fights Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight championship of the world on July 19th in Las Vegas.
Should he win he will become the second oldest world champion in professional boxing history (after Bernard Hopkins).
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