Luisito Espinosa, at the time World Champion, train with Manny Pacquiao, aged 17, at LM Gym in Manila. Manny ran away from his impoverished home at the age of 14 in order to lessen the burden of his mother, who was raising six children alone in General Santos City in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. He found work in Manila in warehouses and construction sites but drifted back to his great love, boxing. He turned pro in 1995 when he was 16 — and a light flyweight at just 106 lbs. In 2008 he bought the building, had it torn down and built a 7 story modern complex, with a boxing gym, recording studio, billiard room, and a dormitory
