The Legend of Manny Pacquiao: Boxing Career over the Years

If you know anything about boxing, you would know a little about the greatness of the boxer reigning from the Philippines, Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao. In this article, Sportco guides you through the illustrious boxing career of Manny Pacquiao.

A legend of the boxing game, retired earlier this year after winning 62 fights, many of which were for a World Championship. Let us take a trip down memory lane of Manny’s career from start to the end. 

Early Career – Manny Pacquiao 

The boxer was born in Kibawe, Philippines on the 17th of December, 1978. Pacquiao had a struggling childhood, making it tougher for him to pursue the sport of boxing but it wasn’t enough to stop Manny. 

Manny himself mentioned how he used to survive with one meal a day, which is gruesome for any human being. 

When he was only 16, Manny made his way to Manila and lied that he was 18 years old to compete in professional boxing. The poor youngster, went on a winning spree as he went undefeated in his first 11 fights. Manny even told everyone how he struggled to make weight in his debut and barely made it through somehow. 

A youngster with money often leads to indiscipline, and that’s what happened with Manny when he got involved with gambling and alcohol. After taking a loss in his 12th fight, Pacquiao decided to take his boxing career seriously. 

Road to the first World Championship – Manny Pacquiao

At the age of 19, Manny Pacquiao was offered his first career World Title shot after going undefeated for 12 fights and knocking out 11 of them. 

It was against the vet Chatchai Sasakul, who had won around 32 bouts during that time, with only one loss to his name. It was for the WBC Flyweight World Championship.

Manny Pacquiao was losing the match against Sasakul for 7 rounds but he completely turned the fight around when he knocked out his opponent in the 8th round of the fight. Manny Pacquiao is also amongst the youngest World Champions in history. 

Pacquiao was a malnourished youth, so it was easy to make weight when he barely had anything to eat. But after he started boxing, he started having regular meals so it was difficult to make weight anymore. Manny Pacquiao appeared extremely drained for his following title defenses, especially for the second one where he was knocked out due to lack of energy. 

Roach X Pacquiao, the Iconic Duo – Manny Pacquiao

After his title loss, Manny Pacquiao decided to join the legendary Freddie Roach’s gym, which would then turn out to be one of the biggest coach-fighter duos in the history of the beautiful sport. 

Pacquiao went over 2 divisions in order to maintain a healthy body. Manny won another World Championship in 2001, for the IBF World Championship before he fought a career-changing fight in 2003, against Marco Barrera. 

Barrera is a legendary Mexican boxer, who was a former World Champion during the time. Manny would knock Barrera out to put the division on notice. This is where the actual legacy of PacMan began. 

He would then go on to face another legendary Mexican, Erik Morales, but Pacquiao would face his first loss with Roach by his side. This would fire him up even as he would go on a 15 fight win streak and all of them would be for World Championships. 

In this run, Pacquiao would defeat Morales, twice and the likes of Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito, Marc Antonio Barrera, and many more. 

Even one of these names on the resume of any boxer would be quite impressive let alone all of them without losing any of the matches. 

8 Division World Champion – Manny Pacquiao 

Manny Pacquiao booked his ticket into the boxing Hall of Fame after he achieved a feat no boxer ever did. Pacquiao became an 8 division World Champion after he defeated Antonio Margarito in 2010. 

This victory would seal his name in the history books, as he would win the WBC Light middleweight World Championship. 

It is unheard of, someone starting his career as a Flyweight and going over to Light Middleweight, winning World Championships in all the divisions. Pacquiao would come back down to Welterweight after the fight. 

Cheers to a Legendary Career! – Manny Pacquiao

Manny fought against his arch-rival, Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2015. It is fair to say, both, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao entered the end of their career when they faced each other. Credit to Floyd, he came out victorious and retained his perfect record in boxing. 

This wouldn’t be the end of Manny Pacquiao and his boxing career as he would go on to win a few more World Championships against the likes of Jessie Vargas, Adrien Broner, and Keith Thurman. 

He would then take 2 years off before facing Yordenis Ugas, where he would lose in a Unanimous Decision. This would bring one of the most legendary boxing careers to an end. 

Manny Pacquiao announced his retirement from the sport of boxing in 2021, he also announced that he was running for President in the Philippines and we wish him All the Best for it!

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