Eighteen-year-old Jimuel Pacquiao, son of eight-division world champion boxer Manny Pacquiao, has followed up his earlier expressions in wanting to follow his father’s footsteps by winning his first amateur fight last Saturday, April 13 at the Amoranto Sports Complex in Quezon City; knocking out Miguel Egan in the Fight Against Depression event.
Jimuel had a slow start, but sprung to action in the second round, consistently using a one-two combo then eventually knocking out his opponent with only one minute and 11 seconds in the round. Immediately, Jimuel exclaimed “I won, Mom and Dad!” in joy when realizing he defeated Egan, who was eight years older than him. Unfortunately, his parents were not present at the venue as they were in their hometown of General Santos during the event, but his trainers Roger Haplas and Jill Lubaton were there to cheer him on.
After the fight, Jimuel told The Manila Times he felt “sluggish because [he] was really nervous in the first round,” but added, “In the second round, I felt that I really need to step it up, so that’s what I did.”
The teenager’s interest in entering professional boxing like his father initiated last February, after knocking out his schoolmate Carson Lucas in a match in Alabang also within two rounds. They are set to rematch in April.
Since then, he has been consistently telling interviewers that his biggest goal is to represent the Philippines someday in the Southeast Asian Games, Asian Games, and the Olympics. He shared, “I still have to work on a lot of things but I’m going to continue to train and see what I’ve got. My goal is still to prepare for the amateur.”
As a response, the boxer-turned-politician Senator Manny said that he at first did not want his children to get into the very physical sport, but has since supported Jimuel’s dream and has even given him one-on-one training.