Pacquiao Inspiration

Manny Pacquiao is such an inspiration to me. In case you don't know, he's the world recognized pound for pound champion of the world in boxing. The biggest inspiration for me, is not his skill in fighting, but his character as a human being and a dedicated follower of god.

This is a guy, who grew up in absolute poverty. Instead of attending school, he sold stolen cigarettes on the streets to make a living. Every penny he made he always gave to his mom to buy rice. As a child, his family was so poor that his own father ate Manny's dog out of hunger. Manny returned home, horrified to see his pet devoured by his own father. This prompted Manny to run away from home and attempt to make a career in boxing. When he was 16, he had his first professional fight, against a man twice his age. Not only was Manny underage, but he was under the weight limit as well so he hid metal pieces in his pockets to add weight on the scale. He fears nothing.

Recently, Pacquiao has brought his name into mainstream sports with sensational knockout wins over Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton, both naturally bigger men.

Through it all, Pacquiao has never forgotten his poverty-stricken roots or god. He spends hours daily praying to god, and he genuinely knows how much god has blessed his life. He has said that if he loses, it's because god wants him to lose and he's perfectly fine with that. It's truly amazing to me how he combines his career passions with complete dedication to god.

He is constantly donating his money back to the poor. He has charities and hospitals and visits sick patients and it goes on and on. Despite how big he is, he never forgets his family and friends. All of this makes him a big role model of mine.

Anyway, he's just an amazing human being. He has a huge fight coming up against 147lb champion Miguel Cotto, so check that one out!