LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Bob Arum sometimes thinks every politician in the Philippines is after his five tickets.

Arum, the venerated promoter guiding Manny Pacquiao's career, can allow just five dignitaries into the ring at Mandalay Bay on Saturday night after his beloved fighter's bout with Juan Manuel Marquez.

The Filipino vice president, cabinet secretaries and enough congressmen to shut down the government all traveled to Las Vegas this week with hopes of getting one of those passes, which would allow them to pose for a postfight photograph with an unparalleled national hero.

"These politicians aren't stupid," said Arum, whose Top Rank offices have been deluged with phone calls. "Aligning with an admired athlete helps their image. Manny is very valuable to them."

Pacquiao means many things to many people in the Philippines, where focusing on his training can be tougher than any ring battle. He's just as famous in the expatriate Filipino community in California, where hundreds turned out on short notice in San Francisco and Los Angeles for recent public appearances by their fearless 130-pound champion.

"To me, it's reminiscent of how (Muhammad) Ali was," Arum said. "It's mainly with Filipinos, but it's the same adulation that I remember when I was promoting Ali. He's a lovely kid. He's not braggadocious like Ali, but he's hardly quiet. He's just a mass of energy and movement."

Back home, he's a worshipped champion, a movie star, a celebrity endorser and a musician who carries his countrymen's expectations into every bout. But the most famous man in the Philippines can hide in Hollywood, where he spent the last eight weeks in remarkably intense workouts with longtime trainer Freddie Roach.

No acting, no politicking, no basketball — not even family time. At 29, Pacquiao finally seems to realize he can be his own toughest opponent when he allows himself to get distracted.

"It's hard to be away from my children, but I have goals I want to accomplish," Pacquiao said last week over lunch in an Irish restaurant in San Francisco, where he ordered chicken, rice and melon while others dined on fish and chips. "I want to be the best I can be, and you have to make sacrifices."

Pacquiao hasn't always known that truth. After the business of being Manny clearly interfered with preparations for his last two fights, Pacquiao went back to the basics that made him a star: hard work, concentration and hunger.

"When I saw my performance in the last two fights, it's not that hungry Manny Pacquiao when I started boxing, you know?" he asked. "I think I took it easy in my boxing career, so when I realized that, I told myself, 'Oh, I need to focus because I'm not Manny Pacquiao.' "

Pacquiao and Marquez fought to an entertaining draw in 2004, and the fight provided lessons Pacquiao is still absorbing. He knocked down Marquez three times in the first round, but couldn't finish off the tenacious Mexican champion, who came back strong in the final 10 rounds.

Critics questioned the closing instinct of Pacquiao, perhaps the sport's most electrifying puncher. They also labeled the southpaw as a one-handed fighter and derided his overall technique.

Pacquiao certainly isn't a one-handed fighter now, and anyone at his last two fights against Erik Morales can see his finishing skills. Roach has been working on a response to every criticism over the last four years, culminating in two months of training that only a veteran trainer can truly appreciate.

Roach believes Pacquiao is close to his peak, reaching a fine synthesis of physical maturity, skills and motivation. Just as important, he has learned to manage his outside interests — though he's also taking business classes back home, the better to manage his growing financial empire.

"I've never seen him in the gym like this before," Roach said. "It's like he's pouring everything into this fight, everything he wants to do with his career. We're pretty tight, and I like to think I know a lot about him, but this is the best I've ever seen him. He's showing me some things I didn't realize about him."




© Copyright Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.