Manny Pacquiao is widely known as boxing’s only eight-division champion, but what often gets overlooked is that he skipped two divisions, meaning he effectively dominated across a 10-division span!
Not only that, but Manny has 29 legit world title fights. Even more impressive when you consider he had an additional 15 fights with only international titles on the line, in fights against the likes of Morales, Barrera, Bradley, Larios and more.
Let me introduce what I consider to be his 10 best victories:
Manny Pacquiao vs. David Diaz
Manny Pacquiao, in his sole title fight at 135lbs, produced one of his best performances against Diaz. It doesn’t get mentioned a lot. One, because he has so many and two, because he beat far superior all-time great fighters. But this was quite literally punch-perfect.
The speed, awkward angles, footwork and combos are just sickening. The Pac-Man systematically beat the overmatched Diaz brutally. The dominance of the performance, reflected in his funny, albeit honest, reflections in the post-fight interview from Diaz following the defeat.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Tim Bradley III
In my opinion, Pacquiao won all three fights with Bradley, but this was the rubber match that officially declared Manny a 2-1 winner, and it was his most emphatic.
In the rematch, Manny had equalled the score after Tim beat the brilliant Juan Manuel Marquez and endured that unbelievable war with Ruslan Provodnikov. When heading into the rubber match, Bradley had stopped the durable Brandon Rios and beaten Jessie Vargas.
This one was a clear Pacquiao victory, coming off the Mayweather defeat at 37 years of age, still convincingly defeating Hall of Fame opponents, and putting the tough Bradley on the deck multiple times to further maintain his position as an elite welterweight.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton
Manny was at his best here in the middle of one of boxing’s most brutal ever prime streaks. Hatton was coming towards the end of his career, but was still a very good fighter. His build-up to this fight, in retrospect, was a disaster, burning out in the gym and attacking a monster like Pacquiao in straight lines.
Nevertheless, it’s one of Pacquiao’s most devastating demolitions of a top-level fighter. Hatton had only lost to Mayweather here and was naturally bigger than Manny. With that size advantage and physical style, this could’ve been a hard fight for Manny.
But it ended up a perfect storm for the Filipino powerhouse who completely destroyed the Brit in one of the 21st century’s most devastating KOs.
The fact that such an overwhelming victory over another Hall of Fame opponent is at number eight is a testament to Pacquiao’s insanely deep resume.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez II
One of the great rivalries in recent times, the Pacquiao-Marquez saga had it all: legendary knockouts, awe-inspiring comebacks, blood, guts and skills of the highest order. The two were a perfect match for each other. Pacquiao’s unrelenting pace, flurries and angles, which no one could deal with at the time, were perfectly nullified by Marquez’s resilience, timing and counter punching.
That’s not to say either man left unscathed; these fights were furious. The first fight saw a bloodied Marquez decked three times within the first stanza, digging remarkably deep to drag the decision back to a 12-round draw.
The third, perhaps the least eventful, with no knockdowns, was won marginally by Pacquiao, whilst many thought Marquez deserved the nod.
The fourth and final, the best. Both men dropped, and just as Pacquiao looked to close the show and finish off a wounded Marquez, finally, the right hand that had been so effective nailed the Filipino superstar flush, producing one of the most incredible knockouts in history.
But this one, the second, was the clearest Pacquiao victory in my opinion. Still a very close fight, one in which both men bled and took back-and-forth punishment. The angles some of Pacquiao’s left hands come from in this are amazing. Marquez always timed him in response with clean, crisp punches and the occasional maniacal flurry between both.
With this victory, Manny had beaten the three Hall of Fame Mexicans of his era, Marquez, Morales and Barrera.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Marco Antonio Barrera I
If you were going to ask me who had the best run of form across the first five years of the 2000s, I would say Bernard Hopkins, who was unbeaten in the time frame with standout KO wins over Felix Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya and a decision win over William Joppy, amongst others. My second would be Marco Antonio Barrera.
Barrera had started the decade with the all-time great fight against Morales, whilst across 2001 – 2003 had beaten Naseem Hamed, Morales in the rematch, Kevin Kelley and Johnny Tapia amongst others. To say he was dangerous when Pacquiao faced him in 2003 would be an understatement. Further victories over Morales, Rocky Juarez and Paulie Ayala in the years after this fight further cement the quality of the victory.
Pacquiao had burst onto the scene two years earlier when he stopped Lehlo Ledwaba, but exploded as a true star by stopping Barrera here. This version of Manny was terrifying, able to absorb punishment and an absolute whirlwind of never-ending flurries of KO punches. He beat Barrera up on this occasion and also won the rematch.
It’s these classic fights that make Manny’s career and longevity even more impressive. This was a war, one of many against the Mexican trio. 17 years later, he was still defeating world champions.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Keith Thurman
The icing on the cake of a legendary career. A victory that made Pacquiao one of boxing’s ageless warriors. 17 years before, he beat his first superstar in Marco Antonio Barrera by stoppage. Over 20 years prior, he won his first world title in the 1990s – this one here, made Manny boxing history as the only world champion across four different decades. An absurd achievement.
And whilst there are old school warriors that never had the luxury of gaining title fights in past decades, like Archie Moore for instance, Manny didn’t exactly go after an easy title holder. He battled one of the most formidable, unbeaten welterweights of the time, in his prime!
The fact Manny had this in the tank after such a hard career is simply breathtaking, although the flurries weren’t as frantic and relentless as they were in his peak, he had the experience he lacked then to also outwit Thurman. By now in his 40s, it was one last hurrah for a once-in-a-lifetime fighter.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Oscar De La Hoya
At the time, one of the most shocking victories in years, Pacquiao was deemed crazy for taking the fight against Oscar, someone so much naturally bigger than him. But this was probably the most one-sided beatdown of a superstar in Pacquiao’s devastating prime.
Manny completely demolished De La Hoya, using the swatting rear hand that Oscar just never saw coming and legendary footwork to evade the bigger man and attack with furious combination punches from all angles.
I think the fact that Oscar was drained for this fight and at the end of his career, with hindsight, makes this a few spots below Manny’s greatest win, but it was certainly the one which propelled him to superstar status.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Erik Morales II
The victory that truly cemented Manny as the ‘Mexecutioner’ in this era is what truly separates Pacquiao amongst the others of his time career-wise. Yes, he boxed the likes of Hatton, Cotto, De La Hoya, and Mosley, similar to Floyd. You also have the trilogy with Bradley, victories against Rios, Margarito, Algieri, Vargas, Broner, Matthysse and Thurman later on, which strengthen his legacy.
Morales was the only man to defeat a prime version of Manny Pacquiao, which was an amazing fight. This was the rematch, and the swarming, relentless style Manny had simply worn the warrior out. Pacquiao dropped the immovable Morales and swiftly finished the job, being the only man to stop Morales at this point.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto
Just bizarre to consider that this victory made Pacquiao a seven-division champion. He was significantly smaller than these welterweights and a fighter like Cotto, who was technically sound, front-footed, and a body punching specialist with a freakishly strong frame. This potentially spelt danger for the Filipino sensation.
And early on, as Manny found himself absorbing body shots on the ropes, it looked like the weight classes may have eventually caught up to Pacquiao. As soon as he responded with his lightning-fast combinations and baffled Miguel Cotto with the angles, it became clear that Manny was capable at welterweight
This fight became a savage beating towards the end. The thing with Pacquiao is that he didn’t bludgeon people with power; instead, he hit them so frantically and repetitively with blinding speed from so many angles that eventually they were completely exhausted. The continuous barrages eventually dismantled opponents’ faces and that’s what happened here as Manny secured a 12th-round stoppage over another hall of famer.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito
The standout victory of the legendary Manny Pacquiao. The fight that cemented him as boxing’s only eight-weight division champion, a record I can’t see being broken for many years to come. The closest active fighters to this today are either Inoue or Crawford, and for either man to do that seems borderline impossible.
Pacquiao was a former flyweight champion. Seeing him toe to toe with a fearsome, giant Junior Middleweight is crazy. The fact that he absolutely beat him up makes it legendary. However, this was a fight that took something out of Manny. You can tell the body shots hurt him, especially one that smashed the rib cage, but the manner in which Manny evaded the constant pressure and always responded with pinpoint combinations was impressive stuff.
Margarito was a formidable opponent for massive welterweights like Paul Williams. There were many great fighters in and around these divisions swerving him like the plague, and Pacquiao took him on, took the fight to him and created history.
Here are a look at some of Pacquiao’s victories that didn’t even make the top 10 across a ridiculously stacked resume: Adrien Broner, Erik Morales III, Marco Antonio Barrera II, Lehlo Ledwaba, Juan Manuel Marquez III, Tim Bradley II, Lucas Matthyse, Jessie Vargas, Shane Mosley, Brandon Rios, Chris Algieri and Joshua Clottey.
