Meeting Manny Pacquiao

By Melchor Menor

 

There are a few who possess a status that even great athletes aspire to be like. They represent true greatness and are considered icons in their sport. These elite individuals have a born charismatic persona but yet live humble and gracious lives. And in my book, I’d like to include one more person to this extraordinary list of people. He is an Ambassador of Peace and recently been added to Forbes top 100 Most Influential people in the World. But to most people here in the U.S., he is known as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the World, Manny ‘PacMan’ Pacquiao of the Philippines. I first saw him several years ago on HBO defeating one of my boxing heroes, Marco Antonio Barrera. Since then, he has taken out the best boxers in the world attaining 6 world championships in 6 different weight divisions. His fame meteorically rose when he competed and demolished boxing icon (another boxing hero of mine) Oscar DeLaHoya.

Manny Pacquiao is decorated with the highest honors in fistic pugilism. And with his achievements, he chose to graciously give back. Manny Pacquiao has given back to his country by building schools and hospitals, contributing to numerous charities and donating millions of dollars to foundations and to the communities and people of his city. He represents the millions of people who are now proud of their heritage because he is the one man who gives them honor to their country. As a Filipino born native who’s family lived in the slums of Manila, I too am proud. Manny gives hope to those who live in hardships and is an aspiration for them. Because of Manny Pacquiao’s accomplishments both in and out of the ring, he has become our country’s hero.

For an iconic figure that Mr. Pacquiao is to our Philippine heritage, I thought it was important and especially meaningful for my son to meet this man who is considered to be a National Treasure by our Filipino Country.

I had reserved a day to drive up to the Wild Card gym in L.A. but was later informed that that specific day was the last public meeting and autograph signing of PacMan. When we arrived at the location that Saturday afternoon, it wasn’t a surprise to see well over 200 people already waiting in line for an hour to see him! Luckily, my brother Mike, my son Mikah and I were able to come up and see him right away and not have to wait. The day before the trip, I had called Shawne Merriman (of the San Diego Chargers) to help me out and so he made a call for us. So, when we arrived, I met with Pacquiao’s publicist- Winchell, at the door of the gym and he immediately let us in.

When Winchell brought us inside, he was quickly asked by Freddy Roach who was sitting behind the front desk, “Who are they?” … “That’s Melchor Menor. He’s a muay thai world champ and he brought his son to meet Manny.” Winchell replied. “Oh, ok.” Freddy Roach responded. At that moment, everything was cool, as if Coach Freddy Roach was also saying, “it’s ok. He’s one of us.”….I quickly came over to shake his hand and introduced myself. Freddy was very kind and made me feel very welcome.

The gym was small and there were about ten other people in the room including Pacquiao’s training staff, an HBO camera crew and a few photographers. It was evident that this was a significant moment for us because only a select people were allowed at that time. We watched Pacquiao finish his last training routine and when he got up, he said in Tagalog (our native language) ‘that was a thousand.’ Pacquiao just completed 1000 abs! After a few moments, he looked around and because we were the only unfamiliar faces in the room, he quickly eyed us. He walked over and with a smile, put his hand out to me to shake my hand. As he went to shake my brother’s hand, I told him that it was an honor to meet him and that we had driven from San Diego so my son could see him in person. As Pacquiao looked over at my son, I told him…“Mikah, that’s him, that’s PacMan, say Hi.” but Mikah quickly became shy and could not look at the man we had driven 2hrs for. Manny Pacquiao laughed and put his hand on Mikah’s head of hair and shook it around. We spoke a few more words then he excused himself to clean up and said he would be right back.

About ten minutes later, there was excitement and yelling coming from the small locker room that Pacquiao was in. All of a sudden, Buboy (one of Pacquiao’s trainers) runs out with Manny chasing after him and whipping him with a towel. They’re both laughing! Buboy gets behind me and uses me as a blockade. We all have a laugh. A moment later, Buboy asked me if I was Thai or Filipino. He asked me because the shirt I wore had muay thai writing on the front. By this time, I noticed a few more people were allowed in to see Manny Pacquiao. They were special guests as well. Manny and I got to talk for several minutes about random things and kept repeating in telling him how appreciative I was that my son got to meet him in person. And during this whole time, the other special guests had asked to take photo’s with him. The HBO crew started to position their film cameras on him. Others asked if he needed something to drink. During this time, I looked over at my son who stood next to me looking bewildered because he didn’t understand why there was so much attention given to this man. At that point, Manny picked up my son and sat him on his lap. “Hi Mikah, how are you?” Pacquiao asked with a smile. “Good.” Mikah responded with a smile back. It was maybe because Pacquaio was a father too that he felt Mikah’s shyness would fade if he just held him in a playful way. And with a calm presence, he did exactly that. This is where I took that million dollar shot with my camera. It was a perfect picture with the both of them smiling. Michael Moorer (former Heavyweight boxing champ) asked if I wanted for him to take some more pictures and we did. My brother and I posed with ‘The Man’. After signing a few gloves for us, Pacquiao told his staff that it was ok for everyone else to come in and it was with that, we decided to leave. I told Manny Pacquiao that my family will pray for him for his upcoming fight with Ricky Hatton. He thanked us for that and we departed.

In closing, I can truly say he is one of the most humble individuals I have ever met. He is very friendly to all and it is with that constant smile of his, he befriends everyone. Manny Pacquiao exudes a kind spirit and exhibits a faith that is so admirable to people and individuals such as myself. For me, it is not the person’s accolades that define a man. The adoration of one’s family and close friends is a richness that can not be measured. This man is loved by millions.

On the drive back home to San Diego, I thought about this wonderful experience I got to share with my son Mikah. It was only a half an hour being in the car and my son is upset that his Nintendo DS game had died of its batteries and could not play his games. Mikah, who is only 4 years old, had already forgotten about Manny Pacquiao. I realize that at his age, my son doesn’t have the capacity to truly appreciate that whole experience as much as I did. And I recognize that it will probably be just a memory for him. But maybe in twenty years or so, he is able to understand the depth of that one memory when his father took him to meet a very special man.