Amateur boxing hit hard by Pacquiao's success

Singapore: The success of Manny Pacquiao is delivering a knockout blow to Filipino dreams of a first Olympic gold medal, with young boxers fast-tracking to the professional ranks in a desperate bid to escape poverty and emulate their hero.

Manny Pinol, a former governor of North Cotabato and current manager of boxers through his Braveheart Boxing stable, says the success of the eight-weight world champion is hindering the amateur Olympic programme at home.

Despite boasting a population of more than 100 million and a love of boxing, the Philippines will send just one fighter to the London Olympics later this year — the same number as the tiny Seychelles — leaving little hope of adding to the three bronze and two silvers won by their boxers in previous Games.

All this while Pacquiao (welterweight), Nonito Donaire (super-bantamweight), Sonny Boy Jaro (flyweight), and Donnie Nietes (light flyweight) hold world titles in the pro ranks.

"Manny Pacquiao's success is hurting our amateur boxing programme because every young boy now would like to become Manny Pacquiao," Pinol told Reuters in a recent interview in Singapore.

Difficult

"They don't want to be amateur because there is simply no money in it, it is just a dream of a (Olympic) gold and it is actually more difficult to win than a world boxing title."

In the Philippines, the rags to riches story of Pacquiao, who came from a poverty-stricken broken home to become the first man to win world titles in eight divisions - he then also went on to be elected a congressman - inspires a nation.

His fights in America have earned him millions and regularly bring the Philippines to a standstill as his compatriots stop work and flock to big screens across the country to support him.

His guaranteed purse for his June 9 bout against undefeated American Timothy Bradley is $25 million (Dh91.75 million), according to media reports, with more expected to come from television money which is counted after the fight.

In 2009, the government statistics agency said 27 per cent of Filipinos lived below the poverty line, leading many young fighters and pushy parents to sidetrack the unpaid amateur game, where skills are honed and lessons learnt, to chase the wealth that Pacquiao commands in Las Vegas.

"The latest edition of our team, he has just turned pro, [he] would have made a very good amateur fighter because he is tall and has a long reach," Pinol said.