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It was, in many ways, a typical Manny Pacquiao fight.

The relentless Energizer Bunny of a fighter pressed forward constantly, pounding his foe repeatedly with punch after punch until finally the opponent, unable to resist any further, crumpled from a right hand to the body and was counted out.

Except that this time the Energizer Bunny was Thai boxer Medgoen Singsurat, and Pacquiao was the beaten man on the ring canvas.

The date was Sept. 17, 1999, the place was Thailand's Pakpanag Metropolitan Stadium, and the occasion was Pacquiao's second defense of the WBC flyweight title he had won the previous year.

According to veteran Filipino boxing journalist Ronnie Nathanielsz, Pacquiao had lost the contest before it even started.

"He was terribly dehydrated because he had trouble making the weight," Nathanielsz said. "He starved for three days. He hardly drank any water." Even so, he weighed in over the 112 pound limit and was stripped of his title on the scales.

"When he went into the ring, he was already a beaten man," Nathanielsz continued, "and he had nothing left."

Pacquiao, who is engaging and affable but not inclined toward the expressive, allows only that, "My body was too big for that weight class." Which, perhaps, is not surprising: He was not yet 21 years old.

Pacquiao was, in essence, growing up in the ring.

"I started very, very young, when I was 16 years old," Pacquiao said. "I was 106 pounds in my first fight."

After losing to Singsurat, Pacquiao conceded the inevitable -- that his body was continuing to grow, and that what for many fighters, would have been the sanctuary of three additional pounds, would not be enough to grant him relief from the struggles he had been enduring. So he skipped two weight divisions entirely. Just three months after losing his title, he fought as a junior featherweight -- a full 10 pounds heavier.

It was at that weight that, in June 2001, he erupted on to the world stage by ripping the IBF belt from favored South African Lehlohonolo Ledwaba at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

It would be just the first of an ongoing string of appearances against an array of opponents whose careers, like his, have first-ballot Hall of Fame induction stamped all over them: Marco Antonio Barrera, whom Pacquiao dominated twice; Erik Morales, from whom he took two of three in an electrifying trilogy; and Juan Manuel Marquez, who fought back from being dropped three times in the opening round to secure a draw in their first encounter, and in the most recent outing for the two men, Marquez fell to an agonizingly close points defeat to the Filipino in March.

As Pacquiao's achievements have continued to grow, so too has his body. After four years at 122 pounds, his first win over Barrera came in his second bout at featherweight, followed immediately by the draw with Marquez at the same weight. In March 2005, he fought Morales for the first time in his debut at 130 pounds, where he has campaigned for the past three years.

On Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, he moves up yet again, when he challenges WBC lightweight beltholder David Diaz, 29 pounds and six weight divisions heavier than when he took his first bow as a professional prizefighter.

It is an achievement that leaves even his peers in awe.

"It's a sign of greatness," WBA super featherweight champion Edwin Valero told ESPN.com. "Pacquiao's a phenomenon. Doing something like that is almost unheard of. It's like Oscar De La Hoya: He started at 130 and was fighting for titles at 160. That's something special. Pacquiao is special."

What is all the more remarkable about this is with each new weight division, Pacquiao almost immediately looks ready to move up again. Before the rematch with Marquez, his T-shirt was straining to contain his ripped arms and upper body, and already he appears to have settled into his new domain.

Even Diaz, who is by no means a small lightweight himself, was impressed with his opponent's size when the two men met at press conferences to hype Saturday's fight.

"He looked pretty good to me," Diaz said. "He looked pretty big. I was a little surprised he made the weight, to be honest."

"I'm comfortable at 135 pounds," Pacquiao said. "I walk around at about 145, 150 pounds. So, it's a good weight for me. I am gradually growing up slowly, not jumping too many weight divisions, waiting until my body is comfortable."

It is, he says, a continuation of the process he has been going through since Day 1.

"I am still growing," he said with the hint of a smile in his voice. "I am a growing boy."

It remains to be seen how much more he will continue to grow. Valero, for one, believes we haven't seen Pacquiao at his biggest yet.

"I see him moving up in weight," said the Venezuelan. "He can go all the way up to welterweight. He's special and he has that thing about him."

"We'll see if I'm comfortable at this weight," Pacquiao said. "I had five, six fights at 130. My first was against Morales. It took me one, two fights to actually really be comfortable."

There's also the not inconsiderable obstacle of Diaz to overcome. Having come back from the brink of defeat to upset Jose Armando Santa Cruz and take the title, and after he recovered from a knockdown to send Morales into retirement in his first defense, Diaz is no slouch, even if he is not considered to be in the same class as his challenger.

But although he is defending his belt against a man who began his career at 106 pounds and was knocked out at 112, Diaz does not expect the Filipino's power to be wanting.

"I think he'll lose his speed before he loses his strength. At those lighter weights, you've got to be really fast," he said.

Pacquiao agrees, which is why, he reveals, he has been mixing wind sprints and greater speed bag work into his training regimen. Even so, he still expects to have the speed advantage.

"I think that my speed and my footwork will be the key to the fight," he predicted. "I think my power will still be there, but the key to my fight is my speed. Also, getting out of the way, because he is going to come at me, he is going to smother me. He likes to fight coming forward, so I have to counter him."

One area where Diaz is almost certain to be outgunned is crowd support. Not that Diaz is unpopular, but Pacquiao's fan base is arguably the deepest and most devoted of anyone in the sport.

"When he fights, you can hardly find a car on the street [in Manila]," Nathanielsz said. "Even the rebels in the mountains go down to a little store somewhere and catch the fight."

"The one thing I really, really enjoy is the fans," Pacquiao confessed. "Obviously without them, I'm not Manny Pacquiao. They're the ones who give me the energy to fight and be the best I can be."

For some fighters, the burden of devotion and expectation is too much pressure to bear. For Pacquiao, it is one weight he is more than happy to carry for the rest of his career.

Source: ESPN

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