MANILA, Philippines – Manny ?Pacman? Pacquiao is on another history-making mission ? break the Filipino jinx in the super-welterweight division in world boxing ? as he takes on Mexico?s Antonio ?Tornado? Margarito for the vacant World Boxing Council?s crown today at the cavernous Dallas Cowboy Stadium in Texas, USA.
Pacquiao, the Filipino megastar who had long been regarded as the world?s best pound-for-pound fighter, will go for the 154-lb division crown against the dangerous Mexican to add to his list of feats. Among these are being the first Filipino boxer to win a major world title (WBC) in the lightweight (135 lbs.) division and the first Pinoy ? and Asian for that matter ? to capture a major championship (WBO) in the welterweight (147 lbs) class.
Already a multi-titled world boxing champion having won world and linear belts in the flyweight, super-bantamweight, featherweight and junior lightweight classes, Pacquiao further made history by succeeding where fellow great Pinoy boxer Gabriel ?Flash? Elorde and a few fellow Asians had failed ? capturing the WBC lightweight and WBO welterweight crowns in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
He crushed the hapless David Diaz inside eight rounds and stopped Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto in the last round achieve the feats. In between, he won the IBO and Ring Magazine junior welterweight belt by knocking out Britain?s pride Ricky Hatton in two rounds.
Pacquiao will go for an unprecedented eighth world crown in eight weight divisions and a historic first for Filipino boxers in the junior middleweight class when he tangles against the once-discredited but still lethal Margarito at the Dallas stadium which is the same venue of his well-attended welterweight title defense against Ghanaian challenger Joshua Clottey.
