Caroline Ann Marie B. Albarando

A friend asked me: Why do you like Manny Pacquiao so much? It’s annoying!

Ooops, sorry, to annoy you, but let me answer that question.

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First, because I am Filipino. Only fellow Filipinos can understand what it means to have an athlete that shares our color, our race, our collective experiences as a nation and then to become one of the world’s best in his sport. Oh, wait.

THE world’s best. He is after all, the planet’s No. 1 pound for pound boxer.

Second, because he is a living legend. A phenom that comes along only once every few years or so. Each decade has its own defining champion: Sugar Ray Leonard, Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson...and then there’s Manny Pacquiao. Look at his career and see how far he has risen.

Third, because he is a genius. At least, when it comes to boxing. And let’s thank Freddie Roach for that as well although 80 percent of the credit goes to the great boxer himself because he does have that innate talent that only very few boxers are gifted with. You know that there are born boxers and there are those who aren’t? Well, Manny Pacquiao was born with it. Eat your heart out.

Fourth, because I share the same city where Manny grew up in.

And because he is proudly “Bisaya” as I most definitely am.

“Kababayan” as we call it in our language. And that’s that. No explanations necessary. Absolutely no apologies.

And last but not least, because, my dear, Manny Pacquiao is not like YOUR Mayweather who is so full of himself. I may not like Pacquiao outside of boxing, but at least in everything that the man does in his sport, there is always that humility which endears him to people all over the world, Filipino or not.

And that is why I like Manny Pacquiao very much.