When thinking of my earliest memory of Manny Pacquiao I am actually taken back to another time altogether. April 22nd, 2001 is known best by boxing fans as the night that Hasim Rahman shocked the boxing world with a crushing knockout of then Heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis at Carnival City in Gauteng, South Africa. The right hand that Rahman delivered was picturesque but little did I know that the evening’s undercard attraction would be linked to a future superstar from the Philippines.
On the Lewis-Rahman undercard HBO fans were treated to an IBF Super Bantamweight title fight between challenger Carlos Contreras and then champion from Soweto, South Africa, Lehlohonolo Ledwaba. Sporting a 32-1-1 record with 23 knockouts, Ledwaba had been champion for nearly two years and his style spoke of a man with many gifts and abilities inside of the ring.
For twelve rounds Ledwaba would befuddle his Mexican foe, sharp shooting with a variety of accurate blows and evading him as he pleased. Moving with fluidity and punching almost effortlessly, Ledwaba was impressive enough for the announcing crew of Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant, and George Foreman to all take notice. The Soweto native went on to capture a unanimous decision as well as the curiosity of many observers who were interested in seeing him fight again. Little could anyone imagine that danger was just around the corner the champion.
After his victory over Contreras it was announced that Ledwaba would be making his first appearance on U.S. soil on June 21st as he was set to meet Enrique Sanchez at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas underneath Oscar De La Hoya’s challenge of Javier Castillejo’s WBC Light middleweight prize. Sanchez was regarded as a strong but limited fighter and wasn’t expected to give Ledwaba too stiff of a test, but as the bout neared things took an interesting turn.
A few weeks prior to the contest Sanchez withdrew because of an injury and out of nowhere a replacement was needed. That selection would end up being an unheralded former champion from the Philippines by the name of Manny Pacquiao. The one time flyweight titlist had just relocated to Los Angeles and formed a bond with new trainer Freddie Roach. Despite sporting a 32-2 record with 23 knockouts at the time, Pacquiao was unknown to many American fight fans and people didn’t know what to expect of his new assignment versus Ledwaba.
As the night of June 21st came upon us, Pacquiao entered the ring in an upbeat manner that beguiled the fact that he was a prizefighter by profession. Instantly before the bout Merchant stated that “Pacquiao’s co-manager is named Martin Elorde. Elorde is the son of Flash Elorde, the most revered figure in Filipino Boxing. If Pacquiao is anywhere near as good as Elorde we’ve got a real fight coming up.”
Merchant was almost right. He was correct in assuming just how dangerous Pacquiao could be but wrong in thinking that Ledwaba would be able to remain competitive. As the bell rang for round one Pacquiao came out strong, firing sharp left hands to Ledwaba’s body. Pacquiao fought the fight at his terms and Ledwaba seemed befuddled early on. Despite his early success in the first round a telling moment would come by way of Foreman, who was so unfamiliar with the southpaw fighter that he wasn’t able to pronounce his name correctly before Lampley interrupted him giving the proper pronunciation. It was actually a striking moment that showed just how new of a face Pacquiao was to the mainstream audience.
As Pacquiao continued pouring on murderous punches Merchant noted that blood was beginning to stream out of Ledwaba’s nose. As the round came to an end Jim Lampley empathically stated “”Manny Pacquiao has landed the harder shots in round one and now he dominates the last minute of the round with a full scale attack”.
As Pacquiao came and sat in his corner, Roach told him that he did ‘very good work’ during the first round and asked Pacquiao if he was alright. The punch stats didn’t lie, as Manny was given credit for landing 32 out of 82 punches, 22 of them power shots, to only nine total connect for Ledwaba. Indeed, the onslaught was just beginning.
Pacquiao came out forcefully in the second as well. Left hands continued to find their mark and a short shot inside would put Ledwaba down. Lampley commented that Ledwaba looked like an old 29 year old fighter against the raging passion of his 24 year old counterpart. The round was another dominant one in the challenger’s favor, to which Larry Merchant remarked “Ledwaba came in here with a chance to be a star but it looks like Pacquiao may go out being the real star”. Pacquiao went back to his corner raising his arms confidently and you got a sense that he knew the victory was soon to be his.
In the third round Ledwaba did show some championship character by digging down and trying to match Pacquiao blow for blow. Despite being at a disadvantage the South African was showing true heart. Regardless of how much punishment was coming his way Ledwaba fought with grit and courage, but he just didn’t have enough firepower or boxing savvy to deal with what was in front of him. Merchant chimed in later in the round that Pacquiao was “asking some questions of Ledwaba that may not have been asked before”.
The blood continued to pour down in the 4th as Ledwaba’s face, gloves, and trunks were all covered in red; a testament to the brutality and fast pace of the fight. As Pacquiao continued to shine with snapping lefts Lampley spoke to Foreman in almost amazement. “Boy, Pacquiao is quick on the trigger, George”. Things were going so smoothly for Pacquiao up until this point that when he went back to his corner his first instructions were to simply ‘Breathe’, which was another way of saying ‘Keep on doing what you’re doing’.
As the fifth round got underway Merchant commented that despite Ledwaba being nicknamed ‘Hands of Stone’ it was Pacquiao who looked like he had rocks in his gloves. More pressure and pain came courtesy of the Filipino and things began looking even bleaker for Ledwaba, who was simply overwhelmed.
“One of the hardest things to do is seize the initiative against a big puncher when you are getting hit and hurt,” Lampley commented as round six approached. In this round Pacquiao fought with more calculated precision than in prior rounds and the end was just a few moments away. A beautifully placed straight left hand would drop Ledwaba and the champion rose with a look of defeat on his face. Another left from Pacquiao would force referee Joe Cortez to end the contest moments later and a new IBF Super Bantamweight champion was crowned.
As Ledwaba lied on the floor dazed and confused, Pacquiao and his team erupted in celebration. Lampley went on to call the victory ‘impressive’, noting that Pacquiao had just picked apart a very good fighter with pure power punching. Perhaps it was Merchant who summed it up best moments later when he claimed of Pacquiao, “I’d never seen him and frankly I’d never heard of him. But I’ve seen and heard him now and I want to see him again.”
In the aftermath of the bout, Ledwaba claimed to be in almost total shock of the entire proceedings and the aggressive nature in which Pacquiao attacked him in. Manny himself would go on to state “This is a dream come true. My dream was to be champion again. He did not hurt me at all. He did not even hit me hard. I was in control the entire fight.”
In control he truly was and for a fighter who didn’t have much of a connection with American fight fans beforehand it was quite the introduction. For Pacquiao it wasn’t just as much about the fight itself but also the series of opportunities that preceded it, from hooking up with Roach in Los Angeles at the Wild Card Gym to being called in as a late replacement for the contest. Pacquiao’s bout with Ledwaba would officially begin his wild roller coaster ride in the sport and when looking back on this date it goes to show that even the sport’s biggest stars all had to experience a little bit of hardship and luck before fully immersing themselves under the bright lights.
The Manny Pacquiao-Lehlohonolo Ledwaba fight can be seen in it’s entirety below…
