By NICK GIONGCO
Just about everyone can’t get enough of Manny Pacquiao.
On Tuesday night (Wednesday in the Philippines), E:30, ESPN’s only primetime newsmagazine show will delve into the life and times of Pacquiao, who battled poverty at an early age to become a boxing icon in just a short span of time.
ESPN tapped ace chronicler Jeremy Schaap, son of the distinguished late scribe and broadcaster Dick Schaap, to spend some time with Pacquiao, who has a date with destiny when he battles Oscar De La Hoya on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas.
ESPN even dispatched a crew to the Philippines to get pieces of footages a couple of weeks ago at around the same time a team from HBO was also present to do the same thing as part of its 24/7 programming.
The decision to feature Pacquiao is obvious.
Pacquiao is the current toast of boxing and the 29-year-old left-hander is to boxing what Kobe Bryant is to basketball.
Following the retirement of Floyd Mayweather, Pacquiao became the recipient of the mythical title of pound-for-pound king, having defeated three of Mexico’s premier warriors — Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez.
The first Asian to be voted Fighter of the Year (2006) by the Boxing Writers Association of America, Pacquiao has also been named by the prestigious Ring magazine as its top puncher in the same year.
Pacquiao is also the first Asian to win four world titles in the same number of weight classes.
In his usual eloquent style, HBO Pay-Per-View senior vice president Mark Taffet describes Pacquiao as an athlete extraordinaire.
"Pacquiao weighs 135 lbs (but) his PPV numbers look more like heavyweight numbers,"
said Taffet, citing of course Pacquiao’s trilogy with Erik Morales and his rematch with Marquez as prime examples of his drawing power.
Top Rank big boss Bob Arum said the Pacquiao-De La Hoya welterweight war dubbed "The Dream Match," has what it takes to break the 2.4 million buys set by De La Hoya against Floyd Mayweather last year.
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