Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao has a doppelganger in the Malaysian town of Keningau in the state of Sabah, and he himself has become a sort of a local celebrity in his village.
The Pacman’s dead ringer is 43-year-old Aloysius Taidin, a pepper farmer from Kampung Baru. When his photo first surfaced online, it immediately went viral, with many joking that Pacquiao had quit boxing and instead turned to pepper planting.
A kickboxing fan, Aloysius said he only realized that he was a boxing celebrity lookalike six years ago after somebody pointed it out to him, reported The Star.
“I don’t know who that stranger was but he kept calling me Manny Pacquiao. After that, he invited me for drinks and we chatted about the boxer,” Aloysius was quoted as saying.
Aloysius said it amuses him every time the villagers call him Pacquiao.
“I smile every time I see Pacquiao’s picture,” he said.
Aloysius is just one among the many who were found to share Manny Pacquiao’s recognizable face. Former Muay Thai Champ Knockout CP Freshmart (real name Thammanoon Niyomtrong), who recently became the WBA Minimumweight world champion, is another Pacquiao lookalike.
Knockout CP Freshmart (Left)
Meanwhile, Filipino MMA fighter Mario Sismundo also bears an uncanny resemblance to the Philippines’ “People’s Champ”.
Mario Sismundo
The real Pacquiao, however, will be at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada tomorrow night to go against WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas.
