Manny Pacquiao knows records.
The internationally popular Filipino, born into poverty 45 years ago, has been throwing hands for an astonishing 28 years.
During his long career…
Pacquiao has captured titles in a record eight weight divisions (out of 17). He’s the only fighter in history to capture the lineal championship in five divisions. Pacquiao has held championships for an astonishing four decades. He became the oldest welterweight champion in the division’s history with a win over Keith Thurman in 2019 at 40-years-old. He is the first professional boxer to secure titles in four of the original eight weight divisions, namely flyweight, featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight. He is one half of the best-selling pay-per-view in the sport’s history, his fight against Floyd Mayweather doing a reported 4.6 million buys. His championship run started back in 1998. Pacquiao, then 19, won the WBC flyweight title with a victory over Chatchai Sasakul in Thailand.
Outboxed for seven rounds, Pacquiao cornered Sasakul in round eight and uncorked a wicked left that knocked the champion out. Pacquiao lost his title but moved up to super bantamweight, where he was victorious in his next nine fights.
Pacquiao made his American fighting debut when challenged favored IBF super bantamweight champion Lehlo Ledwaba in 2001 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV. Pacquiao was a late replacement for injured Enrique Sanchez. Time was of the essence. His camp was a short one. Two weeks.
Ledwaba, the winner of 33 of 34 fights, was expected to defeat the little-known Pacquaio. Didn’t happen. Pacquiao stopped Ledwaba in six rounds.
Two years later, he met Marco Antonio Barrera in Texas. The Ring featherweight title belt was at stake. Barrera was on an eight-fight winning streak after a controversial loss to Erik Morales. He avenged that loss and defeated, showboating Naseem Hamed.
Many experts considered Barrera the best fighter in the featherweight division. The oddsmakers agreed, installing him as a 3-1 favorite.
Pacquiao made them look like fools, dominating Barrera for 10 rounds and stopping him in the 11th. “He punches hard, and he’s a great fighter,” Barrera said. “I couldn’t see a lot of things.”
