Manny Pacquiao slipped quietly out of The Grosvenor House Hotel on London's swanky Park Lane to meet the dawn chorus at Hyde Park, before boarding a train for Manchester to be greeted by a different chorus altogether: 'There's only one Ricky Hatton' boomed out in the now-familiar chanted monotony, with its ubiquitous brass band accompaniment.
By Gareth A Davies
Last Updated: 11:21AM GMT 01 Mar 2009
Manny Pacquiao darts up to Manchester as Ricky Hatton awaits
Doubling up: Ricky Hatton fronts up to Manny Pacquiao in Manchester Photo: GETTY IMAGES
"Can't they get a new song?" quizzed Pacquiao's veteran promoter Bob Arum.
Four thousand Mancunians waiting at the Trafford Shopping Centre trumpeted Hatton's popularity as the two fighters came face to face for the first time.
For the record, the crowd included a sizeable Filipino section, too.
The 30-year-old Filipino, a world champion in four weight divisions from flyweight to welterweight, widely-regarded as the world's No 1 pound for pound prize fighter, cut a dapper figure in the public waiting room of Euston Station yesterday morning, accompanied by promoter Arum, American trainer Freddie Roach, and his team of advisers.
The Sunday Telegraph gained exclusive access to travel with the fighter as he prepared to meet local hero Hatton for the first time. Pacquiao arrived in the UK on Friday, his first time here.
It says a great deal about his interest in England, that he named his fourth child 'Queen Elizabeth', and had urged the ambassador of The Philippines in London to try to obtain an audience with The Queen. Pacquiao's eyes lit up yesterday when your correspondent informed him that Buckingham Palace was less than a ten minute walk from Park Lane.
If Pacquiao's boxing skills are remarkable, so too is his life. Born in Kibawe, on the island of Mindanao, he was a street urchin as a child who slept in a cardboard box, surviving the poverty that kills many.
Today he is seen as a saviour by millions of Filipinos living in privation. In his home town, General Santos City, in South Cotabato, where he lives with his wife Jinkee, and their four children, he requires 24-hour armed guard and intense security.
His aspirations to become a politician when he retires from the ring have intensified the attention on him at home. Outside his home, a queue of citizens forms day and night to be 'gifted' by the boxer. Think sporting popularity of Beckham, and add the political aspirations of Cameron. It is a heady mixture.
"He is generous almost to a fault," said one of his team. "He is [italicize 'is'] a one-man charity."
Pacquiao told The Sunday Telegraph: "My dream was to come here to England and it has come true. I also have the desire to take the light-welterweight title, and it's a big honour to be in another fight which the fans want to see. Hatton's style is very good, he's strong, and for me it will be a big fight, and a crowd pleaser."
"Every time I fight, I have to win because millions of Filipinos are hoping for victory. Every time I go home, after my fights, I do activities to help the people - and that's a part of my political career. It is incredibly hard to be a politician and popular, but that is to my advantage in running for office," explained Pacquiao, totally serious.
Jeng Gacal, Pacquiao's lawyer, explained: "Manny is a cultural icon, and a unifying force in the Philippines, the epitome of the American dream. He has totally entered the consciousness of every Filipino. The entire country looks at him, wants him to do something, change something. He has genuine kindness and caring for other human beings, and he wishes to use that in his political career."
Somehow, that kindness will be spared Ricky Hatton when the two fighters meet in the ring in Las Vegas on May 2. The fistic meeting has all the makings of fight of the year.
