MANILA, Philippines - Mas sikat pa si Manny Pacquiao kaysa kina Muhammad Ali at Oscar Dela Hoya, ayon kay Bob Arum.
“I have never ever seen anything like the adulation that he’s treated by Filipinos in the Philippines and all over the world. That’s something that even Ali never really had, that type of frenzy with 90 million people in the Philippines and 11 million Filipino people around the world,” ayon kay promoter Bob Arum, ayon sa fighthype.com.
Nakatrabaho na ni Arum ang ilang boxing icons sa mga nagdaang taon at ikinumpara ni Arum ang kasikatan ni Pacquiao kina Muhammad Ali at Oscar Dela Hoya.
“Ali was a proponent of a political position and also was a spokesman, became spokesman for civil rights movement at the time when it was really emerging into everybody’s vision, so Ali had a tremendous political impact and particularly his stance on Vietnam war,” ani Arum sa paggunita sa ‘impact ni Ali sa mga tao. “When he was able to comeback and fight, people just idolized him.”
Iba naman ang sitwasyon kay Pacquiao.
“Manny does not have that major political statement because he is not controversial, but he is engage in politics in the Philippines and everything that he does is very pro-humanity so he is rather loved by people in the Philippines, in the United States, all over the world and to that extent, he’s really crossed over into the American public. I mean the people know who Manny Pacquiao is, and he’s generally admired.”
Kumpara kay Oscar Dela Hoya sinabi ni Arum na wala siya sa kalingki-ngan ni Pacman sa kasikatan.
“As far as Oscar is concerned, Oscar was popular in the United States. He was good looking. He was charismatic. He was a good fighter but his popularity was pretty much limited to the United States.That made him an awful lot of money but around the world, he didn’t have the recognition of either Ali or Manny.” (Mae Balbuena)