This is arguably the biggest sporting event of the year, the fight between Floyd ''Money'' Mayweather Jr. and Manny 'Pac Man'' Pacquiao and has been dubbed ''Fight of the Century'' and could generate a reported sum of about $300 million. This fight comes 40 years after the first time Muhammad Ali fought Joe Frazier in the ''Thrilla in Manila'', the country where Manny hails from.
This is a fight that many boxing fans have been clamouring for and it is finally here. For my generation, this should be the biggest fight we would be witnessing. For me, the fight that I only witnessed which was this big, was between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson when Holyfield had his ear bitten. But in my opinion, I think this fight tops it in terms of the pay-out both camps would get and in terms of reputation of each boxer.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. comes with a record of 47-0- 26 KO and hails from a family of boxers. His father who also doubles as his trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr. was a boxer, his uncles Roger Mayweather, Jeff Mayweather were also boxers and his brother Justin Mayweather Jones, is also a fighter and it is safe to say that fighting is in his DNA.
Manny Pacquiao on the other hand, comes from a humble background and is clearly the underdog in this fight. Manny has a record of 57-5-2 38 KO, and is aiming to make history by being the first person to inflict defeat on Mayweather.
For me, I think these fighters are at the peak of their career and won't be able to separate them. However, I fancy Manny for a very special reason and respect him a lot for this.
His name is Emmanuel which means ''God with us''. He comes from humble beginnings and has risen to prominence not by sheer luck, but for me, hard work, hard punching and above all divine orchestration.
Why do I like Manny? It's very a simple reason; HUMILITY. He oozes this every time he speaks and always acknowledges Jesus as the reason behind his victory and change in life. He said in an interview and I quote:
''When you have Jesus in your life, when you have God in your life, the thing in this world is not important in your heart, the most important is God in your heart''.As people, we are free to determine who we want to worship, but since Evander Holyfield, I have not seen any boxer that has been vocal about his faith. It could be where he comes from and what he has gone through in life. But people tend to forget their humble beginnings the moment they become wealthy.
The bible says in Proverbs 3:5-6 ''Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.''
Regardless of the outcome of this fight, Manny Pacquiao as a sports man and person, has earned my respect and has shown that God is the only person that can lift a man to great heights. This for me is the story of Manny.
