Newly-crowned World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight king Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao was designated Friday as flag-bearer of the Philippines for the country's delegation to the Beijing Summer Olympics.
Pacquiao, a Filipino professional boxer known as Manny Pacquiao or Pac-Man, got the job as he visited Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo after he arrived from the United States where he won his latest title, Philippine TV network ANC News reported.
On June 28, Pacquiao defeated defending champion David Diaz in Las Vegas and became the WBC lightweight champion. With the victory, Pacquiao became the only Asian boxer to win four major titles in four weight classes and also became the first Filipino fighter to ever win a world title at lightweight.
According to the Filipino ring icon, he agreed to carry the country's colors since he would not be doing anything anyway immediately after winning the crown from David Diaz.
He added that by carrying the Philippine flag, he hopes to inspire Filipino athletes who will participate in the Games.
Some 15 Filipino athletes will compete in the two-week Olympics that starts on August 8. And Pacquiao, as a professional boxer, is not among the athletes.
Earlier, Pacquiao told reporters that he will donate 3 million pesos (66,700 U.S. dollars) in the ongoing relief work for the victims of the typhoon last month in the central Philippines.
"I for one, after discussing it with my wife, will give 3 million pesos to the victims of the typhoon," Pacquiao said.
Together with his personal donation, Pacquiao said he and some friends will put up a fund-raising campaign by way of a concert and telethon to gather support for the victims of the typhoon.
"We're just finalizing the schedule, then we'll go visit them," the champion said.
(Xinhua News Agency July 4, 2008)