Manny Pacquiao and the Rain

Beyond the comfort of the Cooyesan Hotel in Baguio City as the tiny drops of rain started to pour down gently on Manny Pacquiao’s shoulder, one imagines a childhood memory has put a smile on his face as he continues to run in the high-altitude terrain.

It was the rain that became bonding time with his siblings as they played along mud holes in a small town in General Santos. There he threw punches in the air, weaving and ducking the raindrops as if it was possible to do so.

In just a split second, it was as if time stops and everything seems to be moving in slow motion. The young Manny unknowingly instilled in his mind that on impossible situations, everything becomes possible if you try.

The rain comes from a tiny drop of water then becomes bigger until it reaches the vast ocean.

Who would have thought a drop that is barely visible to the naked eye becomes so big and so grand?

That is why Pacquiao has a connection with the rain. With over billions of people in the world, he stood there on the top…the boxing icon and the reigning pound-for-pound king.

Yet he is humble in ways you cannot fathom. Pacquiao knows all of these things shall pass. Nobody stays on top forever—even the mighty walls of Jericho crumbled down. Everything is a cycle, like the rain that has gone through the top and goes all the way down through the rivers and then back again.

The former two-division champion Jorge Linares became Pacquiao’s sparring partner for his upcoming fight, and Linares no doubt knows it’s going to be a good experience; however, it won’t be a pretty one. One heated exchange left Linares’ eyebrow bleeding and made it lucky he had his head gear on. This is how Pacquiao imparts his knowledge—if you want to be on top, then you have to feel the pain…no shortcuts. Hard work...hard work.

As the drizzle of rain stopped and the road's slippery texture became completely dry...everything went back to normal. We won’t see another Manny Pacquiao—not in this lifetime. But like nature’s cycle, there would be that someone who fills up the void, a one-in-a-billion chance like a tiny drop of rain that becomes majestic.

Beyond the comfort of a four-cornered shelter, on a place where nobody seems to know, there would be that someone weaving and ducking and throwing punches in the rain…

Everything becomes possible if you try…