From baker’s hand to millionaire boxer

Everyone must be asking: With all those millions in his pocket, what will boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao do now? Remarkably, he has proven to be very astute with his finances. He has his money invested in a number of properties, and he has with him the toughest fund manager he can hope for: his gorgeous wife, Jinkee. To cap it all, he is teaming up with the region’s biggest food and beverage conglomerate in a blockbuster deal that will soon make him one of the country’s wealthiest athletes.

From a lowly "panadero" to a millionaire at 27, Pacquiao has truly been an inspiration to millions who see in him hope and a reprieve from the drudgery of life in the Philippines. He is our "Cinderella man."

Born in crushing poverty on Dec. 12, 1978, Emmanuel D. Pacquiao grew up in a one-room shanty in a coastal village in General Santos City in war-torn Mindanao.

His parents separated when he was young, and his mother, Dionisia, had to support six children with her paltry income from a series of odd jobs. Pacquiao helped out by selling bread and taking in laundry. In his spare time, he would do gofer work for a local gym or pound cardboard boxes stashed with clothes, his first makeshift punching bag.

Pacquiao reached sixth grade and then dropped out because his family was too poor to keep him in school. His mother wanted him to be a priest, but he had other plans.

"He was a bright student but didn’t finish school because of poverty," says Jognard Verzoza, who went to elementary school with Pacquiao. "You could tell how poor his family was by his clothes."

Fleeing poverty

Pacquiao fled General Santos at age 12 to pursue his dream to be a boxer, stowing away on a ship bound for Manila. "I wanted to be a world champion," he recalls.

Supporting himself initially as a construction worker and by hustling at pool halls and basketball courts, he never lost sight of his goal. Armed with a powerful punch and a slugger’s style, he rose quickly in the amateur and pro-boxing circuit.

It wasn’t smooth sailing for Pacquiao. In his 12th fight in February 1996, Pacquiao suffered a third-round knockout in the hands of countryman Rustico Torrecampo.

That setback didn’t discourage him, though. He worked even harder and in 1998 won the WBC flyweight title just two weeks before his 20th birthday and held it for nearly a year. He then took the IBF super bantamweight title in June 2001 and defended it until he moved to the featherweight division in January 2004.

Defining moment

Pacquiao’s defining moment, however, was when he matched up against a childhood boxing idol, Marco Antonio Barrera, widely considered as one of the best boxers in the world. Barrera sent Pacquiao to the canvass less than a minute in the fight, but Pacquiao quickly recovered and, in the third round, landed a concussive left that scrambled Barrera’s motor control. By the end of the 11th round, a humbled Barrera had been bludgeoned into submission.

Six months after his match with Barrera, Pacquiao went on to challenge another respected Mexican boxer, Juan Manuel Marquez, holder of the WBA and IBF featherweight titles. That match ended in a draw.

In 2005, Pacquiao again jumped in weight, this time to the super featherweight division ruled by former three-time division champion Erik Morales. He lost to Morales via a 12-round unanimous decision.

A year later, Pacquiao squared off anew with Morales that saw him scoring a decisive win this time. He floored Morales twice in the 10th round before the fight was stopped.

With that win, Pacquiao is now ranked the top contender.