There are two Asian fists that shook the world. One is that of Bruce Lee and the other belongs to Manny Pacquiao.
Bruce Lee was born November 27, 1940 in San Francisco, more than 8 decades ago today.
Manny Pacquiao is an avid fan of Bruce Lee no doubt. SenaPac (Yes, this is how I call him at times) told GMA news that Bruce Lee is his idol. Boxing’s only 8-division champ further said, “All of Bruce Lee’s movies, I watch it. The quickness of his hand speed – bop!” Pacquiao admitted that he formed his fighting style watching the martial arts legend’s flicks when he was still the Kid Kulafu of General Santos City.
In case you do not know, Leo Fong, former Bruce Lee student told EsNews Boxing in 2015 that Bruce Lee got his footwork from Muhammad Ali. Well, in this sense, Lee’s Jet Kune Do, in one way or another, has a root in boxing. In an interview in 2011, Jet Kune Do follower Teri Tom observed that Pacquiao throws his jab with his fist, turning his hip and putting the strong side forward, in a feinting movement that looks very similar to Lee’s technique. Tom further said, “There are people who have studied Bruce Lee for many, many decades and they can’t break it down and figure it out. Manny has done it,” Tom told GMA that year. “And I would assume he’s done it without an instructor. It seems like he absorbed a lot of what he saw Bruce Lee doing, he put the strong side up front,” Tom also said in 2011.
Bruce Lee would have been 83-years-old today, had he not passed away at the young age of 33. His followers went towards different ways after his untimely demise at passed his legacy across generations influencing the only 8-division boxing champion Manny Pacquiao.
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Photo: Twitter/Manny Pacquiao
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