WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA – Manny ‘Jimuel’ Pacquiao Jr., 24, worked the mitts with his trainer at Wild Card Boxing Gym this week. The image of his famous father, Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao Sr., loomed over his shoulder.
Jimuel Pacquiao hit the heavy bag, worked the speed bag, jumped rope, did sits. His father was everywhere – photos, that is, plastered on walls throughout the gym where he became an eight-time world champion.
Manny Pacquiao is expected to be watching in person when his eldest son, Jimuel, makes his professional boxing debut at Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California, on Saturday, Nov. 29.
‘The pressure’s there because every time he’s watching it’s like, whoa, I got to do good,’ Jimuel Pacquiao told USA TODAY Sports this week. ‘I can’t show him that I’m tired and stuff like that. So, yeah, it is pressure. But I’m also thankful at the same time because he is a legend, so I have to learn as much as I can from him.’
Driven in part to help support his destitute family, Manny Pacquiao became a world champion at 19. In many ways he is incomparable, and yet there are comparisons between father and son.
They both have bulging calves that generate powerful punches.
They both have a focused, calm demeanor.
They both have an undeniable work ethic.
‘He always wants more,’ said Stanley Godinez, Jimuel Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach. ‘If you don’t tell him to stop, he won’t stop.’
‘I thought he’s not coming back’
Growing up in the Philippines, JImuel Pacquiao said, his parents kept him out of the boxing gym.
‘They never gave me a pair of boxing gloves or anything to train,’ he said. ‘It’s always been, like, any other sport other than boxing. But I started watching it more and watching (his father) spar, I was in awe.’
Jimuel Pacquiao said he started sparring as a teenager without his parents understanding his intentions.
‘At first they thought I was just doing it to stay in shape,’ he said. ‘But then one day my friend invited me to an amateur show and I asked my parents about it. Like, oh, how do I prepare for this and can I sign up? And then that’s when I had that conversation with them, and they were trying to talk me out of it and stuff like that. But I still ended up fighting.’
In 2021, the year his father lost to Yordenis Ugas by unanimous decision in Las Vegas, Jimuel Pacquiao moved to the United States. He began training at Wild Card Boxing Gym.
Marvin Somodio, Jimuel Pacquiao’s trainer, recalled the first sparring session.
‘The next day I thought he’s not coming back,’ Somodio said. ‘But he’s here.’
He never left.
Taking it slowly
Jimuel Pacquiao said he is 6-5 as an amateur. But Somodio points out Jimuel Pacquiao has sparred with undefeated boxers to prepare for his pro debut.
‘We wanted to take it slowly,’ Somodio said. ‘We wanted to make sure he’s ready.’
In front of an expected sellout crowd of 3,000, Jimuel will face Brendan Lally, a 24-year-old English teacher from Chicago and a former collegiate boxing champion at the University of Illinois. Lally also will be making his pro debut in the four-round lightweight fight.
Manny Pacquiao was scheduled to arrive from the Philippines this week.
‘He did tell me that he’s also a little bit nervous … but he’s also very supportive,’ JImuel Pacquiao said.
And JImuel Pacquiao’s mother, Jinkee?
‘She hates it,’ JImuel Pacquiao said, ‘She’s scared. She’s trying to talk me out of it for a while. But she’s supportive too.’
It’s already been an eventful time for Jimuel Pacquiao, whose fiancée gave birth to a daughter last week.
‘Everything went smooth and the baby’s healthy,’ Jimuel Pacquiao said.
He’s making no promises about whether his fight will go as smoothly as the birth of his daughter – and no proclamations about his pro boxing career.
‘Me and my team, were taking it fight by fight,’ Jimuel Pacquiao said. ‘So we’ll see the progress and we’ll see if we are ready to take another step.
‘We’re going to go at our own pace.’