Congratulations
Manny for winning your fight against Miguel Cotto. You are
really undefeatble fighter. Manny Pacquiao is really
considered as an International Boxing superstar as being the
first boxer to win seven world
titles in seven different weight divisions. He is also
the first and only boxer to win the lineal championship ("the
man who beat the man who beat the man") in four different
weight classes.
Pacquiao started his professional boxing career at the age of
16 at 106 lbs (Light Flyweight). His early fights took place
in small local venues and were shown on
Vintage Sports' Blow by
Blow, an evening boxing show. His professional debut was a
4-round bout against Edmund "Enting" Ignacio on January 22,
1995, which Pacquiao won via decision, becoming an instant
star of the program. Close friend Mark Penaflorida's death in
1994 spurred the young Pacquiao to pursue a professional
boxing career.
Pacquiao's big break came on June 23, 2001, against IBF Super
Bantamweight champion Lehlohonolo Ledwaba. Pacquiao stepped
into the fight as a late replacement and won the fight by
technical knockout to become the IBF Super Bantamweight
champion (his second major boxing world title) on a bout held
at MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada. He defended this title five
times and fought to a sixth-round draw against Agapito Sánchez
in a bout that was stopped early after Pacquiao received two
headbutts.
PACQUIAO VS BARRERA
Pacquiao went on to defend his title four times with expert
training from Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym, improving
his hand speed and mental preparation before the match that
many consider to have defined his career, a bout against
Marco Antonio Barrera. Pacquiao, moving up in weight and in
his first fight ever in the Featherweight division, brought
his power with him and defeated Barrera via a TKO in the
11th round at the Alamodome, San
Antonio, Texas. Although this fight was not
recognized as a title fight by any sanctioning bodies,
Pacquiao was recognized as world champion by
Ring Magazine
On June 29, 2007, it was announced that Top Rank and GBP agreed to settle their lawsuit, meaning the long-awaited rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera will occur despite being the #1 contender for the Super Featherweight title of Juan Manuel Márquez.
Since Bob Arum
was out on a vacation, GBP's chief executive Richard
Schaefer politely declined to discuss Pacquiao’s purse from
the October 6, 2007, rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera (at
the Mandalay Bay Resort Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas).
However, Pacquiao was likely to get a purse of $5 million,
plus possibly a share of the pay-per-view rights. Pacquiao
defeated Barrera in their rematch via an easy unanimous
decision. In the 11th round, Pacquiao's punch caused a deep
cut under Barrera's right eye. Barrera retaliated with an
illegal punch on the break that dazed Pacquiao but also
caused the referee to deduct a point from Barrera. Two
judges scored the bout 118–109, whereas the third scored it
115–112
PACQUIAO VS MARQUEZ
Only six months after Pacquiao's win over Mexican legend
Barrera, Pacquiao went on to challenge another highly
respected Mexican boxer in Juan Manuel Márquez, who at the
time held both the World Boxing Association (WBA) and
International Boxing Federation (IBF) Featherweight
titles. The fight took place at the MGM Grand Las Vegas,
on May 8, 2004, and it ended in a controversial draw that
left both sets of fans feeling bitter.
On March 15, 2008, in a rematch against Juan Manuel Márquez called "Unfinished Business", Pacquiao won via a disputed split decision in a close, hard fought battle in which Pacquiao knocked Márquez down in round 3. Pacquiao won the WBC (his third major boxing world title) and The Ring Super Featherweight belts (as well as the lineal junior lightweight title), making him the first Filipino to win three major world titles in three different weight divisions (Pacquiao was a former WBC Flyweight champion and former IBF Super Bantamweight champion). Albeit, with his Ring Magazine featherweight belt, Pacquiao had arguably won four world titles in four different weight classes at this point.
During the postfight interview, Márquez’s camp called for an immediate rematch. Richard Schaefer, GBP CEO, offered a $6-million guarantee to Pacquiao for a rematch. Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, still stinging from the less-than-stellar revenue from Kelly Pavlik’s immediate rematch with Jermain Taylor, said the fight will probably happen but only after there is time to “put a little air under it.” Pacquiao, for his part, said "I don't think so, this business is over" because he planned to move to lightweight (135 lbs) to challenge David Díaz, the reigning WBC Lightweight champion at that time. Díaz won the majority decision over Ramón Montano that night as an undercard of the "Unfinished Business" fight.
PACQUIAO VS VELASQUEZ
On September 10, 2005, Manny Pacquiao fought Héctor
Velázquez at Staples Center in
Los Angeles, California. He knocked Velázquez out
in six rounds to capture the WBC International Super
Featherweight title. On the same day, his rival, Erik
Morales, fought against Zahir Raheem. However, Morales
fought a lackluster performance, losing to Raheem via
unanimous decision.
PACQUIAO VS MORALES
Pacquiao once again moved up another division from 126 to
130 lbs to fight another Mexican legend, three-time
division champion Érik Morales on March 19, 2005, at the
MGM Grand Las Vegas. However, this time around, at his
first fight in the Super Featherweight division, Pacquiao
lost the 12-round match by a unanimous decision from the
judges.
The much-anticipated rematch between Pacquiao and Morales
happened on January 21, 2006, at
Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas. In that fight,
Morales escaped being knocked down twice, one during the
2nd round by holding on to the ropes and the other on the
6th round by falling on the referee's body. Pacquiao
eventually knocked Morales out in the 10th round, dealing
him the first knockout loss in his boxing career.
Pacquiao and Morales fought for a third time (with the
series tied 1-all) on November 18, 2006. Witnessed by a
near-record crowd of 18,276, the match saw Pacquiao
defeating Morales via a third-round knockout at the Thomas
& Mack Center in Las Vegas. After the Pacquiao–Morales
rematch, Bob Arum, Pacquiao's main promoter, announced
that Manny returned his signing bonus check back to Golden
Boy Promotions, signaling intentions to stay with Top
Rank. This resulted in GBP's decision to sue Pacquiao over
contractual breaches.At the end of 2006, he was named by
both HBO and Ring Magazine
as the "Fighter of the Year", with HBO also naming him as
the most exciting fighter of the year.
PACQUIAO VS LARIOS
On July 2, 2006 (before Pacquiao-Morales third fight),
Pacquiao defeated Óscar Larios, a two-time Super
Bantamweight champion who had moved up two weight
divisions in order to face Pacquiao. Despite his camp's
big promise of an early knockout, the fight went until the
final round, with Pacquiao knocking down Larios two times
during the 12-round bout for the WBC International Super
Featherweight title held at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon
City, Philippines.
PACQUIAO VS SOLIS
After a failed promotional negotiation with Marco Antonio
Barrera's camp, Bob Arum chose Jorge Solís as Pacquiao's next
opponent among several fighters that Arum offered him to fight
as a replacement. The bout was held in
San Antonio, Texas on April
14, 2007. In the sixth round of the bout, an accidental
headbutt occurred, giving Pacquiao a cut under his left
eyebrow. The fight ended in the eighth round when Pacquiao
knocked Solis down twice; with Solis barely beating the count
after the second knockdown, the referee (who was also a
doctor) was prompted to stop the fight. The victory raised
Pacquiao's win–loss–draw record to 44–3–2, with 34 knockouts.
PACQUIAO VS DE LA HOYA
On December 6, 2008, Pacquiao faced Oscar De La Hoya at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, in a fight called Dream Match. Pacquiao asserted himself over De La Hoya from the first round till the eighth round. De La Hoya's corner threw in the towel before the start of the 9th round. Pacquiao won via technical knockout.
Presented by
Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank, Inc., the bout was
scheduled as a 12-round, non-title fight contested at the
147-pound Welterweight limit. Although Pacquiao went into the
fight widely recognized as the leading
pound-for-pound boxer in the
world, some boxing pundits had speculated that 147 pounds
could be too far above his natural weight against the larger
De La Hoya.Pacquiao received $15 to 30 million (share of the
pay-per-view), plus a guaranteed amount. Tickets reportedly
sold out just hours after they went on sale. The total gate
revenues were said to be nearly $17 million dollars. That
amount apparently gave the bout the second largest gate
revenue in boxing history
PACQUIAO VS HATTON
On May 2, 2009,
Pacquiao fought Ricky Hatton for the IBO and
Ring Magazine
Light Welterweight titles (as
well as the lineal light welterweight title) at MGM Grand Las
Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight was originally placed in
jeopardy due to disputes with both camps over the fight purse
money. Eventually, the money issue was settled and the fight
went on as scheduled. HBO aired the contest. Pacquiao started
the fight strong, knocking down a sluggish Hatton twice in the
first round. At the bell, Hatton seemed to have re-grouped,
only to get knocked down for the third time 2:59 into the
second round, awarding Pacquiao the win by KO.
PACQUIAO VS COTTO
On November 14, 2009 Pacquiao defeated former WBO welterweight
champion Miguel Ángel Cotto
of Puerto Rico by TKO in the 12th round, at the MGM Grand Las
Vegas to earn his fifth major boxing world title in five
different weight classes (but together with his Ring Magazine
belts for featherweight and junior welterweight, Pacquiao is
widely recognized to have won seven major world titles in
seven different weight divisions). Even before Ricky Hatton's
fight against Paulie Malignaggi
last year, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum stated his desire for
Pacquiao to fight Cotto. Pacquiao then gave Arum the go signal
to arrange the fight after Cotto won a hard-fought decision
against Joshua Clottey at Madison Square Garden in New York
City. Meanwhile, current WBA welterweight champion "Sugar"
Shane Mosley tried to lure Pacquiao to fight him. Mosley even
offered Pacquiao for a fight at
junior welterweight (140 pounds), Pacquiao's weight
class as of the moment. However, after unsuccessful attempts,
Mosley shifted his focus to a fight against WBC welterweight
champion Andre Berto.
Among the details that were agreed upon for the Pacquiao–Cotto fight were the weight (both camps agreed to the 145 pound catchweight) and the purse (Pacquiao will get the 65% share of PPV buys, as compared to Cotto's 35% share). In addition, the fight would be for the WBO Welterweight title.
Pacquiao solidly defeated Cotto to become the new WBO welterweight champion, his seventh title in seven weight classes. After winning the first round and arguably the fifth, Cotto appeared to tire progressively while Pacquiao maintained his speed and power, dropping Cotto in the third. At the end of the 11th round, Cotto's own father sought to stop the fight. Cotto and his trainer, however, wanted to continue, and the HBO announcers speculated it was so Cotto could have the honor of finishing. A minute into the 12th round, however, it was clear that Cotto could not throw any more decent punches, prompting the referee to stop things.
In the 12th round of the match, referee Kenny Bayless stopped the match, awarding the match to Pacquiao by TKO due to his nearly uninterrupted domination of Cotto after the first round. With this victory, Pacquiao took the WBO welterweight title, his seventh world championship and became the first boxer in history to win seven world titles in seven different weight divisions.
* * * * *
Pacquiao vs. Mayweather
Pacquiao has reportedly agreed to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr.
on March 13, 2010, for a split of $50 million up front, at a
United States venue yet to be decided.
"Nice photo memorabilia to be posted
soon..." ;)
* * * * *
Pacquiao has been
included by Time Magazine as one of the world's most
influential people for the year 2009, for his exploits
in boxing and his influence among the Filipino people.
Pacquiao was also included by Forbes Magazine in its
annual Celebrity 100 list for the year 2009, joining
Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie and fellow athletes
Tiger Woods and Bryant. Forbes also listed Pacquiao as
the world's sixth highest-paid athlete, with a total of
$40 million from the second half of 2008 to the first
half of 2009. The athletes who ranked ahead of Pacquiao
were Woods at number 1 spot ($110 million); Bryant,
basketball legend Michael Jordan, and Formula One star
Kimi Räikkönen sharing the number 2 rank ($45 million
each); and football superstar David Beckham at number 5
($42 million). Pacquiao had also won the 2009 ESPY
Awards for the Best Fighter category, beating fellow
boxer Shane Mosley and Brazilian mixed martial arts
fighter Lyoto Machida. |
