Manny Pacquiao’s road to a record-breaking tally began 27 years ago today.
The Filipino fan favorite is undoubtedly certainly one of boxing’s best of all time, having change into the one fighter in history to win twelve world titles in eight different weight divisions.
During an illustrious profession that has spanned three many years, Pacquiao collected the lineal championship in 4 different weight classes en path to being inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2025.
That journey to groundbreaking success got up and running in ‘PacMan’s’ twenty fifth skilled fight, when he challenged for a world title for the very first time.
For some time, though, things weren’t looking too good for the then-future star…
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What’s your favorite Manny Pacquiao KO?
Manny Pacquiao was down on every scorecard before knocking out Chatchai Sasakul
Before Pacquiao beat Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton, and Marco Antonio Barrera in memorable high-profile title fights, he collected the primary world championship of his profession on today, December 4, in 1998.
Relatively unknown on the time, the 19-year-old Filipino challenged Chatchai Sasakul for the WBC flyweight title within the champion’s home country of Thailand.
The local favorite was unbeaten in his previous 13 fights and had already successfully defended the belt twice. Through seven rounds, Sasakul looked well on target to extending his impressive streak.
When Pacquiao emerged from his corner for the eighth frame, he was down 70-64, 69-64, and 68-65 on the scorecards, having been unable to impose his will on the fight.
But that quickly modified when Pacquiao capitalized on the champ’s apparent fatigue and commenced to swarm him with ferocious punches.
After a shot to the body clearly hurt Sasakul, a straight left up top brutally face-planted the house favorite, who attempted to make it back to his feet but fell back to the canvas.
The devastating knockout added the primary world title to Pacquiao’s résumé, and he would go on to gather a record variety of belts across divisions spanning 40 kilos.
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Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather rematch is within the works for 2026
27 years later, the boxing legend isn’t finished yet.
Pacquiao made his boxing comeback in 2025, competing for the primary time since a unanimous decision defeat to Yordenis Ugas of their fight for the WBA (Super) welterweight title 4 years ago.
‘PacMan’ jumped right back in on the deep end against WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios and got here near unseating the Mexican-American. Their bout went the 12-round distance and was ruled a draw.
The 46-year-old has plans to increase his profession into 2026 but has a much different type of project in mind — a rematch of his ‘Fight of the Century’ with Floyd Mayweather.
Does Manny Pacquiao beat Floyd Mayweather in the event that they have a rematch in 2026?
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Mayweather vs Pacquiao 2 could occur in 2026, with reports suggesting that ‘Money’ is in line to return on the age of 48 for his 51st skilled bout against the Filipino.
Netflix is rumored to be the interested party, because the streaming platform gears as much as stage Jake Paul’s heavyweight clash with Anthony Joshua as its latest boxing match in December.
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