The Making of Jimuel Pacquiao | How His First Night as a Pro Asked More Questions Than It Answered

How do you step into a ring when the world already decided what your story should be? How do you learn in public when every jab is measured against a legend (one that also happen’s to be your father, Manny Paquiao)? And what does a beginning even look like when the last name on your trunks comes with its own mythology?

Jimuel Pacquiao walked into Pechanga Resort Casino on November 29 carrying all of these questions on his shoulders. His professional debut didn’t end with a seismic win or a viral knockout. It ended in a majority draw, a result that felt less like a verdict and more like an opening chapter. Instead of giving us the certainty everyone assumed would arrive with the Pacquiao name, he gave us something less tidy and more interesting. He gave us a starting point.

Jimuel stepped in the ring against Brendan Lally, another first-timer, a former high school English teacher from Chicago who didn’t show up to be anyone’s warm-up reel. The fight went four active rounds. One judge scored it 39 to 37 for Pacquiao. The others had it 38 to 38. Officially: both men start at 0–0–1.

Most who watched the fight will tell you it was nothing dramatic. But also nothing disastrous. Just honest work under bright lights by both contenders.

And honestly, watching two fighters take off the training wheels on the same night felt refreshing. No fake hype. Just two guys learning how to breathe in the pressure.

From the first bell, Jimuel did what you’d expect from a Pacquiao: fast moves, quick bursts and sudden combos. Glimpses of the athleticism that sports reporters on both sides of the Pacific called promising.

But speed alone doesn’t protect you, the audience learned quickly, and he made the kind of mistakes you make when your instincts are sharper than your experience. Both U.S. and Philippine outlets called it what it was. Energetic. Raw. Very much round one of a long-term project. But also the kind of debut that shows a fighter isn’t trying to cosplay greatness. He’s trying to earn it.

Yes, Manny was ringside. Yes, cameras hovered like it was a family reunion for boxing royalty. Yes, everyone noticed that Jimuel’s debut ending in a majority draw mirrored his father’s own majority draw earlier this year.

And still, the most interesting part wasn’t the comparison. It was how much Jimuel and his team worked to shut it down. Reporters kept noting that he wasn’t selling anyone a quick rise or an inherited crown. He’s not trying to be Manny. He’s trying to learn how to be Jimuel, something that made lots of early fans proud no matter what the outcome.

What’s nect? MP Promotions hasn’t announced his next fight yet. They’ll break down the footage. Rebuild the basics. Increase difficulty step by step. The stuff people forget every great fighter had to do before the highlight reels ever existed.

This debut wasn’t a breakout. It wasn’t a setback. It was a signal. Jimuel Pacquiao isn’t chasing perfection in his first outing. He’s building a career in real time, under a microscope most young fighters will never know.

And if this fight showed anything, it’s that he’s willing to start from zero instead of pretending he’s already something he’s not. A victory in and of itself.