Manny Pacquiao Joins Sporting Immortals as Dubai Honors Boxing Icon

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by Butch Belga

Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao receives an award during the World Sports Summit in Dubai.
Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao receives an award during the World Sports Summit in Dubai. Photo: Manila Bulletin. 

Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao’s legend keeps growing, and this time, the spotlight shone bright in Dubai.

The eight-division world champion added another global feather to his cap after receiving the Global Outstanding Sporting Career Award during the inaugural World Sports Summit in the United Arab Emirates. At 47, Pacquiao stood shoulder to shoulder with all-time greats from across the sports world, a reminder that his impact has long transcended boxing rings and title belts.

Sharing the honor roll were icons like tennis superstar Novak Djokovic, MMA great Khabib Nurmagomedov, football legend Ronaldo Nazário, and NBA champion Tony Parker. It was elite company, and Pacquiao fit right in, not just as a champion fighter, but as a global symbol of discipline, resilience, and purpose.

The award was handed to Pacquiao by Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, underscoring how deeply the summit valued sport as a tool for inspiration and unity. Organizers highlighted Pacquiao’s decades-long excellence inside the ring, along with his humanitarian work that has touched communities both in the Philippines and abroad.

Manny Pacquiao.
Manny Pacquiao. Photo: eBay UK.

During the ceremony, Dubai leaders emphasized how athletes like Pacquiao prove that sport can shape futures, influence generations, and break barriers beyond borders. Pacquiao, for his part, framed the recognition as something bigger than personal glory — dedicating it to dreamers everywhere who were once told their ambitions were impossible.

The presence of Dubai’s crown prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, and Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed Al Maktoum added weight to the occasion, as the summit officially launched with the theme “Uniting the World Through Sport.”

For Pacquiao, it was another reminder that while his fists built his name, it’s his story and his heart that keep earning the world’s respect.