Manny Pacquiao: The Power Behind the Pacman

Everybody knows by now just how devastating that left fist of Manny Pacquiao can be. That LEFT HAND OF DOOM, combined with the hellish fury that the Pacman is known to unleash in the ring, has crushed great fighters from 112 to 147 pounds. 

Many people are still in awe at the thought that a fighter who debuted at 106 lbs. can carry that knockout power all the way to welterweight. 

But Pacquiao's power supposedly is so incredible that he could knock down welterweights even when he was still a flyweight. 

There were rumors of a young Manny Pacquiao training at the L&M gym in Manila and getting challenged for a sparring session by a visiting foreign welterweight fighter.  The 112 lb. Pacquiao was supposedly so strong that a left straight from the Filipino left the much bigger opponent crumbled on the canvas. 

I once had the chance to ask the Pacman himself about this rumor—and he confirmed, with a million-dollar grin, that the incident in fact happened.

Now if there's one thing I've learned over the years about Pacquiao, is that he's a very honest man who doesn't need to fabricate any stories to increase his legend. 

And he's also usually right about his assessment of other fighters—even ones he has yet to face in the ring.

Before his first fight with the legendary Marco Antonio Barrera, I had an opportunity to talk again with the Pacman and asked him if he saw Barrera's fight on TV with Kevin Kelley, which was telecast a few days prior. 

Candidly, he told me that Barrera doesn't seem to move his head a lot, and that if the "Baby Faced Assassin" were to fight him with that stationary target (they were already eyeing Barrera as his next opponent),  MAB would be in a lot of trouble. 

And as we now know, Pacquiao did find his target all night long against Barrera in November of 2003—the night the world took notice of the Pacman as a new boxing superstar.

Pacquiao also knew, even after his defeat to Erik Morales in their first fight, that he can beat the great "El Terrible."  His critics have been all over him saying he finally bit off more than he can chew, but the Pacman told me and a few other people in a gathering (with his eye still patched from the cut in the fight) that he would've won that fight if not for that nasty cut that he got from an accidental collision of heads. 

He knew the first four rounds were even, he says, and that he already sized up Morales going to round five.  Then the cut happened, and all the blood that flowed from the gash kept him from keeping a sustained attack, resulting in a close but unanimous decision loss for the bloodied Pacquiao. 

So when the rematch with Morales finally took place 10 months later, the Pacman went out hell-bent on proving that his loss to "El Terrible" was a fluke. He handed Erik Morales his first KO loss—and his second one 10 months after that, completing a trilogy that catapulted the Pacman into pound-for-pound superstardom.

So much power, so much speed. Excellent footwork, and a work-ethic that would put even Olympians in disbelief.  Add to that his ability to continually improve even at the top level. 

These traits on their own would make a lot of fighters great. 

But it's the Pacman's heart that puts him over the top.  He's been hated against and it didn't stop him.  He was told that he couldn't, and it didn't scare him.  And no matter how many times you have to doubt him, you'd have to at least admit he's proven you wrong more than once.