The true power of Filipino marvel Manny Pacquiao

The only person to be in the corner for all of Manny Pacquiao’s fights knows why he is the most loved man in The Philippines.

Manny Pacquiao trains at Elorde boxing gym in Manila this week.

Buboy Fernandez has only just finished a torturous three-hour training session with Manny Pacquiao when he decides to share not so much a story, but a tale of reclamation.

“He brought me from our province,” Fernandez says, tears welling in his eyes. “He hid me under his bed inside the gym. I was not allowed in there because I was a stranger, I wasn’t a fighter. Inside, the guys, they were very strict.

“Every morning he would hide me under his bed. The Lord gave this man to me, a true friend. He is more than a brother. He is the one who changed my life.”

Fernandez is the only man who has been in Pacquiao’s corner for all of his 67 fights. Along with Buboy’s younger brother Flash, also part of the Pacquiao camp, they grew up together in General Santos City on the southern tip of The Philippines.

The city carries the nickname “Boom Town”, a moniker it was given initially for its rapid growth and later because a series of bombs went off over the space of several hours in 2001.

They lived in abject poverty. As kids, they would sell bread before school to ease the financial burden on their families. Then Pacquiao provided them with a way out.

He fled the province as a teenager in pursuit of fame and fortune. After winning one of his numerous amateur titles, he returned to his home town and saw his brother Bobby and Buboy smoking and drinking on a street corner.

“When he went back home he saw me on the street corner, sitting near a big stone with Bobby smoking,” Buboy says. “He said ‘what happen to you guys, you come with me, after my fight, we will go together to Manila’. He is a fighter who has taught his trainer how to become good. Before he taught me I tried to quit. He said ‘why’. I said ‘it is too hard for me’. He said ‘you need this, you need to fight for the belt’ because he believed that some day I would be the best trainer in The Philippines. I can’t believe where I am now.”

Where he is on this steamy day so typical of Manila is a gym about 20 minutes from the thriving business hub of Mikita. Pacquiao has a home about 20 minutes in the opposite direction from the city centre.

Pacquiao’s main trainer Freddie Roach isn’t due to arrive in Manila until next week, leaving Fernandez to oversee the early part of their training camp in preparation for the July 2 bout against Brisbane schoolteacher Jeff Horn at Suncorp Stadium.

Pacquiao has been relentless. He starts the session by sitting on a chair and deliberately taping his own hands, surrounded by fans who clamour to get a piece of the 11-time world champion.

Pacquiao is a picture of tranquillity in a sea of chaos. He patiently looks up for photos before entering the ring and sweating his way through eight rounds of shadow boxing and pad work with Buboy.

Every punch is delivered with murderous intent. Buboy’s hands shake as he talks about the power behind each of the blows. His speed, Buboy insists, is partly the result of his obsession with basketball, which his assistant trainer claims maintains his hand-eye coordination.

While Pacquiao is more known for his relentless energy rather than his knockout power — it has been eight years since he finished a fight early — he has the capacity to stop opponents with his left hook, the same punch Roach once christened “Manila Ice”.

His status as one of the greatest fighters of his time is entrenched regardless of the outcome in Brisbane. His record includes wins over the likes of Timothy Bradley, Juan Manual Marquez, Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Marco Antonio Barrera.

His two biggest defeats have been at the hands of Floyd Mayweather and Marquez, the latter a devastating one-punch knockout that left millions of Filipinos praying over their television sets as they nervously waited for their idol to regain consciousness.

Those losses, however, have done little to damage his reputation or standing in a sport where defeat is only one punch away.

“I tell you the truth — it is only three weeks since we started training,” Buboy says. “He is not yet at 60 per cent. When he throws two punches, you hear the jab and the punch. When he is at 100 per cent you only hear one sound.

“He throws three punches and you only hear one sound. Like a plate, when you drop it. It only makes one sound. When you go to sleep at night, it is like a million needles are in your hands.

“I put my hands in hot water, sometimes I put salt in there.”

Last year, Pacquiao misheard the instructions emanating from his trainer. Buboy wasn’t expecting another punch and dropped his pads. He copped a burst eardrum for his troubles.

“I didn’t move and it was boom,” he says.

The violent side of Pacquiao seems at odds with his personality. Australian media have been given a rare opportunity to spend time with the 11-time world champion this week in the lead-up to his fight against Horn.

We jogged with him on Thursday morning and share dinner with him later that night at his favourite sushi restaurant in the heart of Manila.

Pacquiao consumes 8000 calories a day in order to maintain his weight. He drinks seven litres of water as well, always hot or at room temperature because he believes cold water is not healthy.

Over the course of nearly three hours, the softly-spoken Filipino legend broke into Australian and Scottish accents, channelling Mel Gibson from the movie Braveheart. He described Floyd Mayweather as the best fighter he has faced and questioned the credentials of UFC champion Conor McGregor.

He spoke about his love of photography and showed us the boxing app he has helped developed which carries his name. He talked about his cathartic decision seven years ago to turn his back on the lifestyle which was threatening his marriage to his wife Jinkee, selling the casino and nightclub he owned in the city.

“It was probably around 2010. In his hotel room one night he asked the Lord to forgive him and save him,” long-time friend and personal assistant David Sisson tells us.

“From there, there was a total change in his life.”

Part of that catharsis has been politics. Pacquiao is a senator in the Philippines and there are those who believe he could one day be president, although his popularity took a hit last year when he compared homosexuals to animals.

The comments prompted sports brand Nike to terminate their contract with him. Pacquiao subsequently issued an apology on social media and if his popularity has waned, there were few signs of it over the course of the past week.

Pacquiao is a Philippines pied piper, in part because he has a penchant for treating money like confetti. He has spent millions of his own reserves on helping his people, building them houses and sharing his wealth.

“We go anywhere in the world and even as a boxer, people love him,” Sisson says. “A lot of people go to college, study law, and are a lot smarter than him. He has wisdom and that comes from God, I really believe that. Most people even pastors remember verses in the Bible. He memorises chapters. I believe God has given him a lot of wisdom. He always takes time, especially for his fans. You would think he would get frustrated with them.

“He says ‘no, they are what has made me what I am’. He always gives back to them. I have never seen him get mad.”

Asked whether his friend could one day become president, Buboy talks about his relationship with his people and his philanthropic nature.

“If he had his last penny in his pocket and he had people asking him for help, even if he had one penny in his pocket he would give it to the people,” Buboy says.

“It is very important for him that when you turn back, you are smiling. Only God knows what is the plan. We’ll stay in the boxing first. He is too young to hang up the gloves in the corner.

“He has more years. He is too young. The power is there, his footwork is there. We don’t know if he will become president of The Philippines. If he does, I am so happy.”

Politics will take a back seat in coming weeks as he closes in on Horn. There has already been talk about Pacquiao facing Englishman Amir Khan later in the year, a prospect which has given rise to suggestions that he is taking Horn lightly.

Those who witnessed his efforts in the gym on Thursday would respectfully disagree.