Pacquiao shocked both skeptics and agnostics: The Birth of Pacmania

Written just before the introduction of the so-called "Los Angeles Boys", here's my first article about Manny Pacquiao which was published by the Asian Journal in 2001.

 

 

 

Manny Pacquiao enthralled the boxing enthusiasts and shocked both the skeptics and the agnostics. The first victim, ironically, was not an American, not even from Latin America. It was Lehlohonolo Ledwaba of South Africa, of which Pacquiao was brought in as replacement of Enrique Sanchez, to fight against the IBF Super-bantamweight titlist at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

From the opening round and onward, Pacquiao fought his way up on a full scale attack in an electrifying, non-stop fashion, dropping Ledwaba in round 2 from a short left to the right upper quadrant of the body, railroading his opponent - in fact - from round 1 through 6 with feisty moments and dropping him again by a straight left to the chin with 2:27 left in round 6.

But, still, Ledwaba, "the master boxer", chose to continue the fight which brought him on again to take a finishing right hook from Pacquiao which slid on his chin only to explode to his right chest, dropping him again to the canvas with 2:05 left in round 6, and thus the stoppage by TKO.

It was an event before the 9/11 that signaled the tectonic shift in boxing, a schizophrenic haste that brought increasing attractions in the little men's division as Pacquiao seized the limelight as the new IBF Super Bantamweight Champion.

And the same limelight that Pacquiao beheld himself in glory landed on the pages of the newsprints and more so spelled out through the lips of self-glorified prophets of boxing, tuning up with praise-building phrases "swarming like bees around a cider mill" - and thus birth of the world of Pacmania.

Stay tuned for more!