Xinhua

Manila, Jul 5: Newly-crowned World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight king Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao was designated on Friday as flag-bearer of the Philippines for the country's delegation to the Beijing Summer Olympics next month.

Pacquiao, a professional Filipino boxer known as Manny Pacquiao or Pac-Man, got the job as he visited Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo after arriving winning his latest title in the United States, Philippine TV network ANC News reported.

On June 28, Pacquiao defeated defending champion David Diaz in Las Vegas and became the WBC lightweight champion. With the victory, Pacquiao became the only Asian boxer to win four major titles in four weight classes and also became the first Filipino fighter to ever win a world title at lightweight.

According to the Filipino ring icon, he agreed to carry the country's colors since he would not be doing anything anyway immediately after winning the crown from David Diaz.

He added that by carrying the Philippine flag, he hoped to inspire Filipino athletes who will participate the Games.

Some 15 Filipino athletes will compete in the two-week Olympics that starts on August 8. Pacquiao, as a professional boxer, is not among the athletes.

Earlier, Pacquiao told reporters that he will donate 3 million pesos (66,700 U.S. dollars) in the ongoing relief work for the victims of typhoon fengshen late last month in the central Philippines.

"I for one, after discussing it with my wife, will give 3 million pesos to the victims of the typhoon," Pacquiao said.

Together with his personal donation, Pacquiao said he and some friends will put up a fundraising campaign by way of a concert and telethon to gather support for the victims of the typhoon.

"We're just finalizing the schedule, then we'll go visit them," the champion said.