Pacquiao's legacy

Even if he doesn’t fight again, Manny Pacquiao has already cemented his place in boxing history. No other boxer has won seven world championships in seven weight divisions, starting from 112 pounds all the way to 147 pounds. Join us in a review of all seven so we get a bigger picture of what he has done.

Title # 1: He earned his first world title in dramatic fashion when he defeated Thai champion Chatchai Sasakul via eighth round knock-out for the WBC flyweight championship (112 pounds) on December 8, 1998. The irony in the Pacman’s first attempt to win a world championship was that he was way behind in points in this fight before scoring the big KO. One judge even had Sasakul scoring a 7-0 shutout after seven rounds. Pacquiao would later lose his title on the weighing scale after barely making the 112-pound limit enroute to losing to another Thai Medgeon Singsurat in an equally devastating manner: third round KO. Pacquiao was visibly drained and was in no condition to even go up to the ring for the fight.

Title # 2: 122 pounds. Pacquiao bounced back to the limelight ten pounds up with a surprise upset win over Lehlohonolo Ledwaba for the IBF super bantamweight championship (122 pounds) on June 23, 2001. Pacquiao was only a late inning substitute for the real challenger to the Ledwaba and made the most out of his first ever appearance before the lights of Las Vegas. This fight was the breakthrough that introduced Pacquiao to the international boxing scene. This also marked the Team Pacquiao’s decision to tie up with Freddie Roach who has guided Pacquiao ever since.

Title # 3: After two years of defending his 122-pound title against so-called “B” fighters, Pacquiao made that big decision to start invading the ranks of the big boys, and in one of the most surprising match-up announcements, Pacquiao was called on to face Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera in a featherweight fight (126 pounds). Even the doubters in us didn’t think he could beat Barrera who was at that time slugging it out with fellow Mexican archrival Erik Morales for the limelight. Proving that he belonged up there with the “A” fighters, Pacquiao crushed Barrera via an 11th round TKO on November 15, 2003. Although this wasn’t for an official championship for any of the boxing organizations, “The Ring” magazine declared him as their champion in the 126-pound division. He challenged Juan Manuel Marquez for his WBC featherweight championship but this ended in a controversial split draw. Despite the draw, he remained “The Ring” magazine’s featherweight champion while Marquez held on to his WBC belt.

Title # 4: Pacquiao’s quest in the 130-pound division didn’t start out well when he lost to Erik Morales by a close unanimous decision on March 19, 2005. Pacquiao would later defeat Morales in span of ten months in 2006: on January 21 (1Oth round TKO) and November 18 (3rd round KO), but this was for the WBC International title, not the regular world championship. The official title came later when he scored a split decision win over Juan Manuel Marquez on March 15, 2008. Pacquiao scored another win over Barrera before this fight.

Title # 5: Knowing that history was in the making, Pacquiao didn’t waste any time in moving up to the 135-pound lightweight division, scoring a devastating 8th round KO win over defending WBC champ David Diaz on June 28, 2008. There was no stopping in facing the big names as Pacquiao followed this up with a catch weight fight at 145 pounds against Oscar de la Hoya. We all know how Pacquiao sent the Golden Boy into retirement and still managed to call him his idol. At this point, Pacquiao was undoubtedly boxing’s biggest draw.

Title # 6: It was time to follow the natural step up the ladder to the 140-pound super lightweight division. Just when people expected Pacquiao to get “weaker” in the heavier divisions, he comes out smoking in scoring a relatively “easy” two-round KO win over Ricky Hatton for the latter’s IBO super lightweight title on May 2, 2009. Although the IBO isn’t as well known as the other bodies, you can bet that the WBC, WBA and IBF wouldn’t have minded embracing Pacquiao as their champion.

Title # 7: What else can we say? Fighting at a catch weight of 145 pounds, Pacquiao demolished Miguel Cotto for the WBO welterweight title last Saturday. This time, the WBC added its name to the title list, setting up a special world championship at this catch weight. Note that the limit for the welterweight division is 147 pounds. No title # 8 is in sight for the Pacman (at 154 pounds?), but a super lightweight fight with Floyd Mayweather in 2010 is already in the making.

Win or lose. Pacquiao is already a legend.

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