"The Exodus"
Five months after Manny Pacquiao burst in the American boxing scene by annihilating Lehlohonolo Ledwaba at the MGM in Las Vegas and capturing the IBF super bantamweight belt, Pacquiao faced the rugged and game WBO super bantamweight champion Agapito Sanchez at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, California. It was the Bay Area’s first live glimpse of the Pac Man who is now beloved and has throngs of fans in the area as evidenced by the massive crowd that showed up and cheered Pacquiao just a little over a month ago when Pacquiao threw the ceremonial pitch at the San Francisco Giants’ game against the San Diego Padres.Pacquiao entered the ring with his now signature smile and joyful demeanor and although it pales in comparison to his current fan base, there were already some Filipino fans that came out with their Philippine flags in support of Pacquiao at that time. Speaking of the Bay Area, if you watch the old videos of this fight, Pacquiao’s body and frame reminded me so much of Nonito Donaire Jr. who is from the bay area and also has Filipino blood running through his veins. He was skinnier and obviously a lot smaller and younger than he is today. Reasons why comparing the old Pacquiao to the current one is not only unrealistic in terms of his skill set, but his physical level as well. It's just like comparing a picture of LeBron James from high school compared to today.
Visible in the Pacquiao entourage was his then promoter Murad Muhammad whom I will be discussing more later on. And speaking of Donaire and promoters, Pacquiao and Donaire actually share another similarity that seems to have been forgotten by a lot of people. Both fighters were once promoted by Gary Shaw. Of course most people that followed Donaire are aware of his bitter break-up with Shaw in 2007, but in 2005, Gary Shaw inked Pacquiao to a promotional contract replacing Muhammad.
Pacquiao started strong in his fight against Sanchez but definitely struggled with Agapito’s roughing tactics. Pacquiao’s defense and boxing skills were definitely light years from what it is today but his tenacity, explosiveness and his willingness to trade blows and take his opponent’s head off definitely caught the eyes of a lot of boxing fans.
Despite lacking defense, Pacquiao’s perpetual movement proved to be a quagmire for the Dominican as Sanchez resorted to some dirty tactics to keep Pacquiao at bay during moments where the Filipino seemed to be turning the tide in his favor. At the end of the first round, Pacquiao landed one of his patented vicious left cross on Sanchez’s jaw that almost floored Sanchez similar to Pacquiao’s devastating KO punch over Hatton.
In round 2, Pacquiao sensing blood, jumped out the gates but suffered a nasty cut on his right eye in what was ruled as an accidental head butt when he tried to swoop in on Sanchez. The cut bothered Pacquiao for a little bit although he would not be denied as he kept laboring on and landing big shot after big shot. Sanchez started resorting to some dirty tactics however as he tagged Pacquiao with a low blow in the 3rd round and was roughing Pacquiao up. In the 4th, Sanchez would again hit Pacquiao with a couple of low blows that floored Pacquiao for a few seconds. Pacquiao was given time to rest by the referee but to his credit, kept his composure and kept fighting on.
More than anything, the class Pacquiao displayed and the fighting spirit for bouncing back and not playing into his opponent’s dirty tactics truly symbolized how he has won over fans from all over the globe with not only his courage and skill but also his heart, determination and the fact that he is a clean fighter. Pacquiao is definitely a rare breed, not just in terms of his greatness as a boxer but also his character as a person.
Sanchez kept applying his rough tactics on Pacquiao as the ref could not see a lot of it. In the 6th round however, the cut Pacquiao suffered in the 2nd round got worse to the point that the ringside doctor has to stop the bout. The fight was called a draw to the dismay of the crowd and amid boos as both fighters retained their respective belts. It wasn’t the sensational follow-up performance most of his fans had hoped for coming from the Ledwaba victory, but Pacquiao definitely won over a lot of fans and boxing experts and analysts as well for the way he conducted himself and fought til’ the end. A signature highlight from this bout was when Pacquiao started licking his own blood from his gloves caused by the cut eye on his eye.
An African-American friend of mine who saw the fight with me on TV remarked, "Damn! I Wouldn't want to fight that guy. He's crazy, look at him licking his own blood from his gloves!" I shot back at him and replied "If you fought him, that would be your blood!" And he just shook his head. It was somewhat of a moral victory for Pacquiao as he earned the respect of a lot of people for the heart he displayed and class despite being placed in an unfavorable position.
After the tough draw with Sanchez, Pacquiao went on a roll. He defended his title 3 times against the likes of Jorge Eliecer Julio, Fahprakorb Rakkiatgym and Emmanuel Lucero and another victory in his home country against Serikzhan Yeshmagambetov. All victories ended in either a KO or a TKO. None of it though would compare to the next challenge Pacquiao would have to overcome.
About two years after his fight against Sanchez, Pacquiao would again step in the ring with another boxer who also had a reputation of using dirty tactics. That boxer was Marco Antonio Barrera. Barrera’s skills and accomplishments were far beyond Sanchez can ever wish to become though and almost everyone outside Pacquiao’s camp were already writing Pacquiao off. Justifiably so, Barrera was already considered one of the greatest boxers to ever come out of Mexico at that time. It would be Pacquiao’s biggest challenge and Barrera would be the best he’d ever had to face at that stage of his career.
Manny Pacquiao has definitely come far from where he started. Check back tomorrow for part three of this article as I chronicle the next few years of Manny Pacquiao's career, from looking back at his epic battles against 3 Mexican legends to his managerial and personal conflicts and his emergence as a “National Treasure” In his homeland.
Quotes:
"From General Santos City Philippines, the reigning, defending IBF junior featherweight champion of the world, Manny "The Destroyer" Pacquiao!!!" -- Michael Buffer (Pacquiao vs. Julio)
(When Jim Lampley discussed Pacquiao's previous fight against Sanchez, his co-commentator responded) "I can't imagine anybody fouling me, when I was fighting, that many times without getting one back. He must be a really good kid."
"This is some prospect Bobby. To me he's just every bit as exciting as Prince Naseem Hamed." -- Jim Lampley (Pacquiao vs. Julio)
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