Manny Pacquiao gave a rather unexpected, but no less valid, response when asked to name who he feels is the greatest knockout artist in history.
This sport has, of course, been graced by a selection of seriously ferocious punchers over the years, with Pacquiao, himself, being regarded as a particularly powerful operator in his prime.
One of the Filipino’s most brutal stoppages, it must be said, arrived against Ricky Hatton in 2009, when a crushing left hook emphatically halted proceedings in just the second round.
Beyond ‘Pac Man’, though, many will point to the heavyweight division as being a prolific breeding ground for such monstrous finishers, including the likes of Mike Tyson, George Foreman, Earnie Shavers and even Deontay Wilder.
As for the lower weight classes, it would seem that Julian Jackson, Sugar Ray Robinson, Gerald McClellan, and Gennady Golovkin are among those that repeatedly appear in conversations surrounding the art of a destructive knockout.
And yet, someone who is perhaps less of a fixture in such discussions, but nonetheless deserves a mention, is pound-for-pound legend Julio Cesar Chavez.
Ending his extraordinary career with 85 knockouts in 115 fights, the former three-weight world champion certainly made a sizable imprint on the featherweight, lightweight and super-lightweight divisions.
And so, based on those numbers, Pacquiao left himself with few options but to name Chavez as the greatest knockout artist of all time, revealing his selection in a social media interview with IBA Boxing.
Pacquiao also opined that a prime Floyd Mayweather had the best jab, footwork and defence in boxing history, while suggesting that Juan Manuel Marquez, another of his former opponents, boasted the greatest ring IQ and chin.
