Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People: Where Is Manny Pacquiao?

First of all, let me just go ahead and apologize for writing another article about Manny Pacquiao. Bleacher Report's boxing community leader, King J, recently sent out a plea of sorts to stop such pieces.  

Here's me disregarding his wise words. Sorry man.

I fully realise that, in his words, the topic is "overkill". Everything that could have been written, has been written, "about ten times over". I would fully respect a person's decision not to read this--I probably wouldn't.

But I have something to get off my chest, and it just so happens to be about the Filipino whirlwind. Deal with it.

At this point, I might also flag that everything in quotation marks so far is from King J's article. I hope there will be no copyright infringement issues after this.

Anyway, last weekend, I managed to convince a homeless man to swap his copy of Time Magazine for some cocaine. Although very pleased with my trade, that feeling quickly abated as I delved into the contents of the May edition.

Well, it was also because I thought I was getting the current issue of the magazine. Needless to say, I will never trust a homeless man again.

The cover read: 'The 100 Most Influential People in the World'.  It certainly drew my attention, and I was keen to find out who were the people that most influenced today's society.  

What I discovered prompted me to write this article.

In short, ala Wikipedia, and according to Time's managing editor, the list recognizes people "whose example, whose talent, whose discoveries, transform the world we live in." It is broken down into four categories: Heroes, Leaders, Thinkers, and Artists.

It's a pity Wikipedia isn't a person; that quote almost seems like it is describing the omnipotent website.

I learnt a lot from the list.  I learnt about a lot of great people, who do incredible work in far off places.  People that I had not heard about before, but definitely people that seemed worthy of recognition, like Graca Machel , or Rahul Singh .

But I also learnt that the Time 100 list is a joke, and certainly not worth the bag of cocaine I sacrificed for it.  

I don't know if the list is intended to spark debate and infuriate readers, but if it is, it achieves a first round KO in that respect.

Before I read through the list, I did expect to see Manny Pacquiao's name there.  We all know his rags-to-riches story at this stage, and it is well documented. His rise through the boxing ranks has been meteoric, and he transcended the boxing world to become an international icon.

It is not, however, his boxing skills alone that has brought him to be held in such high esteem around the world.

Even as an avid fan of his fiercest rival, Floyd Mayweather Jr, it is hard not to be compelled by this phenomenon. He is a humble, good-natured man, who is a credit to boxing and to his country.

Not content with sitting on his laurels and basking in his past achievements and glory, Pacquiao was recently elected as a congressman for the province of Sarangani in the Phillipines.  

He has shown a determination to use his celebrity to improve the lives of his compatriots, and dedicates a lot of his time and money to this end. In a world filled with greed and squalor, this can only be admired.

He is an inspiring man. He is an influential man.

Wow, even while I was writing all that I found myself smelling the cheese. I did mention hard drugs earlier, remember?

All that being said, it turns out he was not, in fact, on the list. Instead, I found the likes of Serena Williams, Robert Pattinson, Sarah Palin, and Ashton Kutcher.  

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against these people, and I'm sure they have some revered qualities which justifies their inclusion on this list. Putting aside the fact that I don't know what these qualities are, I do think that the "Pacman" has influenced more people than a bully, a vampire, and two idiots.

For me, Pacquiao has at least come closer to transforming the world we live in today than the aforementioned people. 

Or maybe I'm just missing something. Could be the effects of the drugs I keep talking about I suppose.

At the end of the day, I know this sort of thing does not matter. I'm sure Manny is not at home upset about his exclusion. But I am a boxing fan, and a fan of his, so I think I am allowed to voice my frustrations about it.

I also realize that he was included on the list last year. In a way though, this only serves to magnify my sense of frustration. From what I can detect at least, his influence has not waned at all since then.

Indeed, both inside and outside the ring, Pacquiao has reached new heights, his reputation becoming all the greater.  

And hey, if Sarah Palin can be included on the list for two years running, I see no reason why Manny can't either.

Just to put the record straight, I was obviously joking about the cocaine.

It was actually heroin.

Okay, I'm still joking. Don't ever do drugs, kids--Manny Pacquiao wouldn't.