LOS ANGELES—Filipino painter Jun Aquino, who has immortalized the world’s first and only eight-division boxing champ Manny Pacquiao in his paintings, gave the Robert Downey Jr., the “Iron Man” star, one of his masterpieces.
Aquino, who started painting Pacquiao in the 1990s, became friends with Downey Jr.’s 20-year-old son Indio Downey, when the latter watched the fight of former world super flyweight champion Marvin Sonsona against Jonathan Arellano in California last year.
Aquino gave Indio one of his still-unveiled latest paintings—“The PacMan Immortalized on Canvas,” ahead of his third fight with Timothy Bradley, which the younger Downey brought to his father’s gym.
RDJ, a fan of the Filipino boxing icon, was surprised.
Indio narrated that his father asked how much the painting was as he was ready to pay for it.
But Indio told him that Pacquiao’s official painter gave it for free, with Pacquiao’s signature, Aquino excitedly narrated.
Aquino does not sell his Pacquiao’s paintings, especially if it is signed. He has donated all his paintings to Pacquiao, who displays them in his Las Vegas and Los Angeles homes. Aquino and Pacquiao have an agreement to sell only for charity auctions or fund-raising. The price range for a small painting in a 2014 charity event in Beverly Hills was $5,000 to $10,000, while the big ones range from $20,000 to $50,000.
“Robert Downey is a philanthropist, he is good man. He is like Manny,” said Aquino, who has been invited by the Iron Man to dinner in the artist’s convenient time.