Manny Pacquiao: Yellow gloves a symbol of fight against poverty

When Saranggani Rep. Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao steps into the boxing ring in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) wearing yellow gloves, he will be fighting two opponents: Shane Mosley and poverty.
Pacquiao will defend his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight championship belt against Mosley at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Wearing yellow gloves is a first in boxing history because red, blue, or burgundy are the traditional colors used by boxers.
Chino Trinidad, in an interview on News to Go on Thursday, said Pacquiao chose the color yellow "to signify the unity of the Filipino people across the globe."

"In context, sinabi niya (Pacquiao) na 'boxing is not the biggest fight of my life, eradicating poverty is now the biggest fight of my life," Trinidad said.
Trinidad said Pacquiao is encouraging the people who will watch his fight against Mosley to wear yellow too as a sign of their unity with Filipinos in the fight against poverty.
Most eloquent speech
Trinidad said the foreign media that covered Pacquiao's press conference in Las Vegas thought that it was "the most eloquent speech" they have ever heard from a boxer.
"Coming from him who barely made it to high school, at laging pinagtatawanan dahil sa kaniyang balu-baluktot na English, ipinarating ni Manny ang kaniyang mensahe na hindi niya titigilan ang kaniyang laban sa kahirapan," Trinidad said.
Pacquiao was born into a poor family in General Santos City in Mindanao and was raised alone by his mother after his parents separated when he was in sixth grade.
He dropped out of high school due to extreme poverty.
Now, as an eight-division world champion and the first boxer in history to win 10 world titles, Pacquiao has been named as a the highest paid athlete in the world.
ESPN Magazine pegged Pacquiao's total earnings last year from his boxing matches at $32 million (almost P1.3 billion).
Lawyer Ricardo Bering of the Records Management Service of the Philippine House of Representatives said based on the lawmakers' 2010 statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs), Pacquiao is the country's wealthiest congressman.
A man of many hats
Pacquiao is a man who wears many hats. Aside from being a boxing champion and a congressman, he is also an actor, singer, husband and father.
Now, he's wearing a new hat as a "fighter" of poverty.
According to radio dzBB host Arnold Clavio, Pacquaio has officially partnered with the Gawad Kalinga (GK) Foundation in building houses for the poor.
GK is non-government organization whose mission is to alleviate poverty by building communities.

This partnership was made official during the Philippine GK Hope Ball on April 30 which was also attended by Vice President Jejomar Binay.
While wearing yellow gloves or shirts will not necessarily end poverty, sports writers say it could start the "big fight" against poverty.
When Pacquiao wears the yellow gloves on Saturday, he will help bring the world's attention to one of the Philippines' worst problems: poverty. - with Chino Trinidad, Suzette Dalumpines, VVP, JVP, GMA News