Manny Page #6

Beautiful. Beautiful singing.

What a pleasure!

-Thank you.

-You're amazing!

NARRATOR:
: Manny had already won seven

world titles in seven weight classes.

But the people behind Manny needed

another way to sell him.

They hoped to take him from

a popular boxer to a legendary one.

The greatest credit to boxing,

Manny Pacquiao.

NARRATOR:
To reach an unprecedented

eighth weight class title,

a feat never achieved in the sport,

he would have to defeat

Antonio Margarito,

a champion who weighed almost

20 pounds more than Manny.

BERT:
One, what you've got, Sandy,

is a man who's got everything to lose,

and very little to gain.

He's already won seven championships,

seven divisional titles,

more than any man in history.

If he wins, he wins an eighth.

On the other hand,

Antonio Margarito,

he's got everything to gain,

and very little to lose.

He has already lost,

if you will, credibility,

having have been found to have

wrapped hands

that were basically loaded.

Suspended for a year.

Although l spent most of my life

as a boxing promoter,

l'm a lawyer,

and this hurt me more than anything.

Because, fair is fair,

and justice is justice.

And we don't convict the man

because of innuendo and suspicion.

As far as the record is concerned,

this man did nothing wrong.

Do you, in your heart, believe that he

knew that those wraps were loaded?

Of course. l know he knows.

Would you know if someone were putting

extra things in your hand-wraps?

-You would know that?

-Of course.

BERT:
He's got a tough opponent.

Margarito almost dwarfs him in size.

Has a seven-and-a-half inch reach.

[CROWD CHEERlNG]

And everyone asks, every fight,

how far is that bridge

that Manny Pacquiao has to cross?

And he does it again and again.

The question is always,

what is the bridge too far for him?

FRANKLlN:
Every time he fights, the

entire country is in a standstill.

You can't see anybody on the street.

Everybody is in their homes,

watching and waiting for the fight

of Manny Pacquiao.

[CROWD CHEERlNG]

Zero crime in the entire country.

The rebels, the secessionists...

Ceasefire. Everybody's in a ceasefire.

That's how it is when Manny fights.

lt's bigger than boxing.

It's bigger than

being a prize fighter.

His journey now is about fighting

and winning for a people.

Every time he goes out there,

he's winning for them.

Huge burden, but he accepts it.

MAN:
Most of these people here,

they were so ashamed of who we were

as a race.

Manny Pacquiao helped us

to reclaim our true identity.

COMMENTATOR:
The issue is not

Margarito's eye

at this moment, it's his brain.

How many clean head shots

can one man take?

Pacquiao looking towards the ref

asking him to stop the fight.

How much punishment

do you want him to take?

[CHEERlNG]

ALEX:
If you're Filipino, your head is

definitely held high right now.

Knowing that the best fighter

in the world is a Filipino.

Let's go, guys.

NARRATOR:
: Manny had just won

World Titles,

in eight weight classes.

He had taken more punishment

than he had ever endured.

He was cloaked in glory.

But the fight had changed him.

Really... this was the

hardest fight of my life.

lt can't always be like this.

You know...

l've had many boxing fights, but...

l didn't think

it would be this hard...

NARRATOR:
: The life in boxing

was fulfilling,

but uniting people through twelve

rounds of fighting felt short-lived.

Manny's journey would soon take

another direction.

My dream is to focus as a politician.

Lot of politicians is corrupt so,

I don't want to be like them.

I want to serve people honestly.

[CHEERlNG]

MANNY:
Mr. Speaker,

my dear colleagues,

ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon!

The victory over Margarito

the eighth championship belt

in the different weight division

is not mine alone.

It belongs to every Filipino.

The Filipino people have shown

once more to the world

that the Filipinos can excel

in a world-class arena.

Because of hard-work, dedication

and faith in God Almighty.

As your colleague,

let me thank our President,

His Excellency, Benigno Aquino

because of his promise

that he will help

the province of Sarangani

build its first public hospital.

FRANKLlN:
One ofthe promises of Manny

as a Congressman

is the promise to people

to give them a hospital.

The promise has been there

for some time,

and we don't have a public hospital.

So this is a promise that was

made to the people,

and a promise that it will be done by

Manny Pacquiao.

[APPLAUSE]

MANNY:
l have a responsibility,

to serve people,

to give back

what God gave to me.

FRANKLlN:
A lot ofpeople

are saying

that Manny Pacquiao will become

a resident of Malacanang.

lt's the White House

of the Philippines.

I think it will happen.

WINNIE:
Manny has done Filipinos proud

because he is a tremendous boxer.

But l cannot say that he is

going to be as good a politician

as he is a boxer.

Doesn't work that way.

He will have to make a choice as to

what his priorities are.

You've got these loves in your life.

You've got boxing.

You've got politics.

You've got gambling.

You've got mistresses, all right?

And then, you've got

your people of Sarangani.

What priority are you gonna give them?

That's the question he has

to decide first.

Unless of course you think that he

can do everything at the same time.

We welcome him to SportsCenter,

the former No. 1

pound-for-pound fighter in the world,

Floyd Mayweather.

Floyd, welcome back.

-We've missed you, Floyd.

-Hey, how are you doing?

l'm not the former No. 1

pound-for-pound fighter.

l'm just saying l'm the best fighter

in the sport of boxing.

No one has dethroned me.

So how am l not pound-for-pound

the best fighter in the world?

-Because you retired?

-But have l been beaten?

Floyd has the right to talk sh*t

because he has never been beaten.

And he's that good.

l don't think it's a no-brainer that

Manny goes there and beats him.

But it's the fight.

l would love to see that as Manny's

last fight, and then retire.

Because, you know what?

There's nowhere else to go.

Why go any further than that?

He avoided no one.

He's a throwback.

He's like the old days,

when people fought the very best.

Every time he stepped up,

he fought the best available.

And he continues to do

what boxing fans have always wanted

Floyd to do.

Make fights against the biggest,

most threatening opponents,

and once the bell rings, go to war.

The whole boxing world, Floyd,

has been clamoring for this

Mayweather - Pacquiao fight,

lt's Pacquiao and Mayweather.

l mean, that's the fight.

lt's one of those fights

where it's very competitive,

that's why it's compelling to

people all over the world.

What is it going to take

to get these two boxers

best pound-for-pound in the ring?

No, l'm not going to dodge anybody.

You know what it is.

No, what is this?

Bob Arum?

You gotta talk to Bob Arum, not me.

l would love to do that fight.

Love it. Manny would love it.

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