Role model for Manny

Two-time world welterweight champion Jimmy McLarnin is a perfect role model for Manny Pacquiao because the Irish “Baby-Faced Assassin” did what the Filipino icon will try to do against Oscar de la Hoya in Las Vegas on Dec. 6.

McLarnin started his career as a 16-year-old flyweight in 1923. At that time, there was no weight class lower than the 112-pound division so it’s possible McLarnin could’ve tipped the scales less than the limit because he stood barely five feet tall.

Pacquiao had just turned 17 when he turned pro in 1995 as a lightflyweight.

Both Pacquiao and McLarnin were blessed with iron fists and there was only a half-inch difference in their height. McLarnin won his first pro bout by a knockout in the opening round and moved up the ladder until he became known as “the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the ring,” an accolade bestowed by New York sportswriters after his stunning first round disposal of the uncrowned lightweight champion Sid Terris in 1928. The Ring’s Eddie Borden called him “the greatest of all modern-day pugilists.”

Coincidentally, Pacquiao is now considered as the world’s No. 1 fighter, pound-for-pound.

In his colorful career, McLarnin faced three Filipinos all of whom he beat. In 1924, he outpointed Young Nacionalista in a four-rounder in Vernon, California. In 1925, he decisioned flyweight champion Pancho Villa in a non-title bout in Oakland. Villa, 23, died a few days later of Ludwig’s Angina, an infection of the throat cavity triggered by abscessed gums. Ring Magazine founder Nat Fleischer wrote that the win over Villa launched McLarnin’s reputation as a “devastator of champions.” In 1927, McLarnin survived a ninth round knockdown to score a controversial verdict over Lope Tenorio in Hollywood.

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McLarnin lost to lightweight titlist Sammy Mandell in his first bid for a world crown in 1928. Five years later, he knocked out Young Corbett III in the first round to claim the world welterweight diadem. It was a 10-year journey for McLarnin to the Promised Land, starting as a flyweight and finally hitting paydirt as a welterweight.

Coincidentally, Pacquiao is fighting De la Hoya at a stipulated weight of 147 pounds, the welterweight limit.

McLarnin had several memorable trilogies against Barney Ross, Fidel La Barba, Bud Taylor, Mandell and Joe Glick. With manager Charles (Pop) Foster by his side, McLarnin also enjoyed big paydays in engaging the likes of Ray Miller, Tony Cello, Frankie Sands and Tony Canzoneri in two-fight series.

Coincidentally, Pacquiao’s career has taken a similar turn with a trilogy against Erik Morales and two-fight series against Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez.

McLarnin had no problem bulking up and won three fights where he weighed his heaviest ever. He tipped the scales at 147 1/2 pounds in halting Benny Leonard in six in 1934, 146 1/4 in outpointing Ross to regain the welterweight crown in 1932 and 146 in decisioning Petrolle in 1931. Pacquiao hopes he’ll be able to bring up his power and retain his speed despite elevating his weight for De la Hoya.

By the way, McLarnin’s three fights against Ross drew a total of 125,000 fans. Tickets for the Pacquiao-De la Hoya duel are sold out and pay-per-view buys are expected to hit the roof.

McLarnin’s boxing philosophy was summed up by his belief that “if they can’t hit you, they can’t beat you and can’t hurt you, which is the great science of boxing.” Pacquiao will no doubt keep that philosophy in mind when he enters the ring to battle De la Hoya.

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McLarnin beat Lou Ambers in 1936 then announced his retirement at the tender age of 28 with a record of 62-11-3, including 20 KOs. He lost only once inside the distance to Miller in 1928 and avenged the setback a year later. McLarnin wound up defeating 13 fighters who held or would hold a world title – Vila, Taylor, La Barba, Jackie Fields, Louis (Kid) Kaplan, Mandell, Young Jack Thompson, Al Singer, Leonard, Corbett III, Ross, Canzoneri and Ambers.

Pacquiao is now 29 and has said he may fight only twice more before hanging up his gloves next year.

Life after boxing was good for McLarnin. He owned an electrical goods store and did some acting, golfing and lecturing.

Coincidentally, Pacquiao has appeared in movies and on TV and plays golf, his latest addiction. He, too, has invested his ring earnings wisely in hard assets. In his 30s, McLarnin was offered big bucks to stage a ring comeback but never returned.

McLarnin never got involved in politics, a field that looms large in Pacquiao’s future. He died at the age of 96 four years ago.

The Ring’s Pete Ehrmann said although McLarnin was a hard hitter, he always insisted it was speed, not punching power, that accounted for his success. To beat De la Hoya, Pacquiao will rely on a combination of speed and power. His inspiration could be McLarnin and it would be more than coincidental, perhaps providential, if he beats De la Hoya as a welterweight.