How Christianity Fueled Manny Pacquiao's Rise From Poverty To Presidential Candidate
Manny Pacquiao in 2015. Creative Commons photo.
(ANALYSIS) Many titles come to mind when the name Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao is mentioned. In the world of sports, Pacquiao is known for his lightning speed, incredible footwork and dangerous left hand. This combination earned him victories against some of the world’s best boxers in the past four decades.
Pacquiao, 42, announced his retirement from boxing on Sept. 28. He remains the only eight-division champion in boxing history.
But outside the ring, Pacquiao played plenty of other roles: recording artist, businessman, professional basketball coach and player, congressman, father, husband, son and preacher.
After going from sleeping on dirt floors to becoming one of the best boxers in the history of the sport, Pacquiao is now a presidential candidate in the upcoming Philippine elections, scheduled for May 2022. Pacquiao’s life story sounds like it was written by Hollywood scriptwriters, but Pacquiao believes he has one reason behind all of his success — God. While his rise to greatness shows his grit and resiliency, Pacquiao has always been open about his faith and how it has gotten him through the hardest fights in and out of the boxing ring.
From Nothing to Something
Before winning a total of 12 boxing titles in 72 fights, Pacquiao’s first battle came against poverty.
In 2017, Pacquiao said in an interview with China Daily, “Many of you know me as a legendary boxer, and I'm proud of that. However, that journey was not always easy. When I was younger, I became a fighter because I had to survive. I had nothing. I had no one to depend on except myself. I realized that boxing was something I was good at, and I trained hard so that I could keep myself and my family alive.”
Pacquiao was born in Kibawe, Bukidnon, a small municipality located in the Philippines’ southern island of Mindanao. He was one of six children in the family. Pacquiao’s father harvested coconuts for a living while his mother sold peanuts. Even with both parents, his family woke up every morning wondering where their next meal would come from. Then, Pacquiao’s parents separated when he was in the sixth grade after his father had an affair with another woman.
At the age of 12, Pacquiao found boxing when his uncle showed him the 1990 bout between Mike Tyson and Buster Douglas. Pacquiao then started training with his uncle in a makeshift ring outside his house. Though his mother was extremely against his newfound love for the sport, Pacquiao found his way to the capital city of Manila at the age of 14. There he worked as a construction worker and competed as an amateur boxer to provide for his family.
Pacquiao’s professional career began in 1995, at the age of 16. It was the beginning of what would become one of the sport’s greatest careers for one of the sport’s best athletes. Prior to his super fight against Floyd “Money” Mayweather in 2015, Pacquiao once again credited his success to God.
“Everything I have accomplished is from God-given strength,” Pacquiao said in a press conference to promote the Mayweather fight. “I used to sleep on the streets, starving, hungry. I could not have imagined that the Lord has raised and put me in this position. … God can raise nothing into something. Jesus is the name of the Lord.”
Pacquiao also said he hoped to share his Christian faith with Mayweather after the fight. Mayweather, listening to the remarks, calmly sipped his drink and stared ahead.
From Catholic to Protestant Evangelical
Pacquiao has often been open about his faith, showcasing it during his time as a boxer.
Growing up in a Roman Catholic family, Pacquiao would wear a rosary on his way to the ring in the early stages of his career. He was also known for kneeling in his corner and saying a prayer before every fight. But Pacquiao’s way of living did not always reflect his beliefs. At one point, the man who came from nothing fell into the depths that came with fame and success. Media outlets portrayed Pacquiao as a party animal, gambler, drunkard and womanizer at the time.
But then a moment of realization came. He later told the Guardian, “In that time and age, I knew I could do whatever I wanted. But I changed when I heard the voice of God, and I can testify that there is a God. I saw two angels, white, long, big wings. I saw Paradise. God showed me about the end of time. This all happened within the last three years. That’s how I changed my life.”
Pacquiao was in his thirties when he said that God spoke to him in his dreams — three years after his dominant victory over Oscar De La Hoya raised his profile to superstar status in the boxing world. Even after winning 15 fights in a row — including victories over Shane Mosley and rival Juan Manuel Marquez — Pacquiao told the L.A. Times that he felt “empty inside,” had considered suicide and would often cry himself to sleep.
In a recent interview with Toni Gonzaga, he said, “I asked myself what I should do. ‘Lord am I not worthy?’ If I could just turn back time and undo all I’ve done against you.” Then, Pacquiao said, he read the book "The Purpose-Driven Life” and his Bible and decided to change his life, repenting for his sins.
He became a born-again Christian, started reading his Bible daily and decided to dedicate his life to God, boxing and serving those around him. He told the L.A. Times that he reads the Bible cover to cover every seven months or so and believes in a literal interpretation of the Bible.
After converting to evangelical Protestantism in 2011, Pacquiao stopped wearing the rosary. However, he still displayed his faith through his fight night apparel. Despite the difference in his practices, Pacquiao continued to pray in his corner before each opening bell and raise his hands to the heavens after each fight — regardless of the results.
“It’s more vital to him now than ever before,” Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach told the Guardian in 2014. “He was born a Catholic, now he’s a born-again Christian. His mother [Dionesia] hates it. She’s always trying to force the rosary on him. The only worry about it is that maybe it could hurt his political career, because 90% of the Philippines is Catholic and he’s a born-again Christian.”
Roach, a former Catholic himself, said Pacquiao often liked talking with him about the Bible and what it means. Having trained Pacquiao for years, Roach said he saw the fighter stop drinking, stop cheating on his wife and become a better family man.
Pacquiao has not claimed, like some athletes, that God is on his side. Rather, he said he believes that God is good and blessed him to be in the position he is in. And he shares the Christian gospel message and invitation to others every chance he gets. He has met with Tim Tebow, an outspoken evangelical Christian football player who won a Heisman Trophy in college and played in the NFL. He’s also been known to hand out cash to the poor in the Philippines.
“I’m happy because I found the right way, salvation, born again,” Pacquiao told the Guardian in 2014. “We are required to be born again, all of us. Christ said unless we are born again we cannot enter the kingdom of God. So it’s very important to me. Jesus Christ said: ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ There is no other way. The only way is through Jesus.”
A Rough Transition
However, Pacquiao’s evangelical Protestant faith did not always sit well with some people in the boxing world, including his fans, opponents and an array of armchair analysts.
One of the highlights of Pacquiao’s historic career was the 15-fight win streak he had between 2005 and 2011. However, the last four fights of this streak he won by decision. This happened around the time Pacquiao decided to go deeper in his faith and be more involved in his church. While he still dominated most of these fights, people started to think that Christianity took away his killer instinct, that the Pacquiao who was known for knocking opponents out now refused to finish them in the ring because that went against his beliefs. In response to this claim, Pacquiao said, “All of my opponents are friends outside the ring. But inside, we have a job to do.”
The win streak came to an end when Pacquiao lost to Timothy Bradley in a controversial split decision in 2012. This was followed by a devastating knockout loss agains boxing rival Juan Manuel Marquez in December of that year. Afterward, his mother placed the blame on his new church. In a live TV interview after the fight, she cried and asked, “Why did you leave this?” while holding her rosary toward the camera.
Pacquiao’s honesty in relation to his beliefs also caused tension with the LGBTQ community. In February 2016, Pacquiao was featured in a video statement by the Filipino news network TV5. In the video, Pacquiao said that people who practice same-sex marriage are worse than animals because animals would never mate with the same sex. Pacquiao immediately received backlash from the LGBTQ community for his comments. The statement also resulted in the termination of his contract with Nike. Pacquiao later apologized and said that while he, as a Christian, believes that same-sex marriage is against the teachings of the Bible, he is not condemning those who practice it.
Pursuing a Calling Into Politics
On the flip side, Pacquiao continued to do good by serving and giving back to his country. As someone who experienced poverty, Pacquiao has used his success to help those who struggle with it today. He said his faith led him to run for the Philippines House of Representatives, where he won a seat in 2010. Then, in 2015, Pacquiao became part of the Philippines Senate, a position that he said gave him more influence and allowed him to help more people in the country — especially the poor. As of 2019, Pacquiao was responsible for the filing and passing of 33 Senate bills.
As for boxing, Pacquiao has won eight of his 11 fights since the loss to Marquez. Two of these victories came in 2019, at the age of 40 against champions — Adrien Broner and Keith Thurman — who were much younger than him. When asked why he kept fighting at such a high level at that age, Pacquiao pointed to God.
“A lot of people are saying that I’m going to be the next president, but I’m not thinking about that right now,” he said in an interview with the L.A. Times in 2019. “I’m focused on my career as a senator. If that happens, that’s God’s plan.”
On Sept. 19, Pacquiao officially announced that he will be running for the presidency in the Philippines. In his statement at the PDP-Laban party convention, Pacquiao said, “It is time for our country to rise against poverty. It is time for a clean government. I believe that even the impossible can happen if it is ordered by the Lord”.
Whether he is fighting for a championship, fighting against poverty or fighting for his people, Pacquiao has always showcased his dedication and truth to his faith. As he now fights for a bigger role in leadership and in serving his country, we wait to see what God’s plan is for Manny Pacquiao.
Leocciano Callao is an intern at Brooklyn Paper while he studies in the NYC Semester in Journalism program at The King’s College in NYC. He is studying Media, Culture and the Arts at Providence Christian College in Pasadena, California and played four years of college soccer. He is originally from The Philippines, hailing from Malaybalay City in the Bukidnon province, where Manny Pacquiao is from and spent his childhood. He is on Twitter @leocciano and hosts his own sports talk show/podcast on Instagram TV called "The Final Minute" (@thefinalminute_ on instagram) which he supports with a Patreon page.