Manny Pacquiao: Boxing’s one and only four-decade champion.
The fact Manny Pacquiao won titles in a record eight divisions – of 17 total – is generally cited as his greatest accomplishment. Another of them might never be topped.
Pacquiao, who announced his retirement on Tuesday, is believed to be the first fighter to hold major titles in four decades. The Filipino icon, who turned pro at 16 in 1995 and is now 42, won his first world title (flyweight) when he stopped Chatchai Sasakul in eight rounds in 1998 and his most-recent belt (welterweight) when he defeated Keith Thurman by a split decision this in July 2019.
Here are Pacquiao’s major titles by decade:
1990s
WBC flyweight (1998) – KO 8 Chatchai Sasakul
2000s
IBF junior featherweight (2001) – TKO 6 Lehlo Ledwaba
*-Featherweight (2003) – TKO 11 Marco Antonio Barrera
WBC junior lightweight (2008) – SD 12 Juan Manuel Marquez
Manny Pacquiao: Boxing’s one and only four-decade champion.
The fact Manny Pacquiao won titles in a record eight divisions – of 17 total – is generally cited as his greatest accomplishment. Another of them might never be topped.
Pacquiao, who announced his retirement on Tuesday, is believed to be the first fighter to hold major titles in four decades. The Filipino icon, who turned pro at 16 in 1995 and is now 42, won his first world title (flyweight) when he stopped Chatchai Sasakul in eight rounds in 1998 and his most-recent belt (welterweight) when he defeated Keith Thurman by a split decision this in July 2019.
Here are Pacquiao’s major titles by decade:
1990s
WBC flyweight (1998) – KO 8 Chatchai Sasakul
2000s
IBF junior featherweight (2001) – TKO 6 Lehlo Ledwaba
*-Featherweight (2003) – TKO 11 Marco Antonio Barrera
WBC junior lightweight (2008) – SD 12 Juan Manuel Marquez
Manny Pacquiao: Ranking the Filipino icon’s success division by division.
Manny Pacquiao has fought in 11 of the 17 weight divisions in his 26-year professional career. He has won world titles in eight of them, an all-time record that has made him a legend.
The Filipino dynamo has a winning record in all 11 weight classes, from 108 to 154 pounds, although he fought only once in three of them.
Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) has fought more times in his current division – welterweight – than in any other, having gone to war at 147 pounds in 17 of his 71 bouts. He’ll face titleholder Yordenis Ugas at welterweight on Saturday in Las Vegas (pay per view).
But in which division did he have his most success?
Boxing Junkie did the research to answer that question. In this special feature, we rank Pacquiao’s success by weight class. We start with No. 11 and work our way up to the division in which we believe he had his most success.
Note: We used Pacquiao’s weight to determine the division in each of his fights, with one exception: He weighed under the welterweight limit when he fought Antonio Margarito for a 154-pound title. That counts as a junior middleweight bout.
Also, he won sanctioning body titles in six divisions, Ring Magazine belts in the other two.
Manny Pacquiao: Ranking the Filipino icon’s success division by division.
Manny Pacquiao has fought in 11 of the 17 weight divisions in his 26-year professional career. He has won world titles in eight of them, an all-time record that has made him a legend.
The Filipino dynamo has a winning record in all 11 weight classes, from 108 to 154 pounds, although he fought only once in three of them.
Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) has fought more times in his current division – welterweight – than in any other, having gone to war at 147 pounds in 17 of his 71 bouts. He’ll face titleholder Yordenis Ugas at welterweight on Saturday in Las Vegas (pay per view).
But in which division did he have his most success?
Boxing Junkie did the research to answer that question. In this special feature, we rank Pacquiao’s success by weight class. We start with No. 11 and work our way up to the division in which we believe he had his most success.
Note: We used Pacquiao’s weight to determine the division in each of his fights, with one exception: He weighed under the welterweight limit when he fought Antonio Margarito for a 154-pound title. That counts as a junior middleweight bout.
Also, he won sanctioning body titles in six divisions, Ring Magazine belts in the other two.
Paulie Ayala spoke with Boxing Junkie about his two classic fights with Hall of Famer Johnny Tapia in 1999 and 2000.
Editor’s note: Showtime will televise the two fights between Johnny Tapia and Paulie Ayala at 10 p.m. ET / PT tonight (Friday) as part of its Showtime Boxing Classics series.
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Johnny Tapia was the good natured wild man, famously living the vida loca. He was the star. Paulie Ayala was the blue-collar fighter, a quiet man who happened to be a talented boxer. Together they created fireworks in 1999 and again in 2000.
Ayala, who turns 50 on April 22, watches videos of those fights occasionally and the emotion floods back every time. “Especially in the first fight, when the announcer says ‘And the newwwwww …’” Ayala told Boxing Junkie. And he remembers the circumstances that led to the two encounters and the fights themselves – both of which took place in Las Vegas – as if they happened yesterday, not two decades ago.
Ayala had championship pedigree from his amateur days, when he contended for a place on the 1992 U.S. Olympic team and trained at the same Forth Worth, Texas gym as the Curry brothers (Donald and Bruce), Gene Hatcher, Troy Dorsey and Stevie Cruz.
However, going into the first Tapia fight, he was 30 years old and had failed in his only attempt to win a major world title. He had traveled in 1998 to Japan to challenge WBC bantamweight beltholder Joichiro Tatsuyoshi, a two-time champion. The two were engaged in a spirited, competitive brawl when an accidental head butt caused a deep cut over Tatsuyoshi’s right eye and the fight was stopped. Ayala lost a close technical decision.
That fight wasn’t televised in U.S., as Ayala recalls, which he believes might’ve played a role in the decision of the 32-year-old Tapia and his team to defend his WBA title against him.
Paulie Ayala celebrates his victory over Johnny Tapia in 1999. John Gruzinski / AFP via Getty Images
“They didn’t see that fight,” Ayala said. “As far as they were concerned, I was good enough to be in the mix but didn’t have that extra oomph to win a title. Ring Magazine did a good article at the time. They interviewed everyone. Johnny gave [Top Rank] my name. [Matchmaker] Bruce Trampler gave him names of guys he thought would be easier but he decided to fight me. I’m thankful for that.”
Ayala was well aware of Tapia, whose abilities were obvious in spite of his mercurial, self-destructive life outside of ring. He wasn’t fazed, though, not with his vast amateur background and 28 pro fights under his belt. He was confident.
“I didn’t see anything I hadn’t seen before,” Ayala said.
That was evident before and during the fight, which took place on June 26, 1999 at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. Tapia and Ayala traded obligatory barbs in the lead up to the fight, each trying to gain a psychological edge. Ayala wanted to provoke Tapia, to make him angry so he’d engage in more of a war than a boxing match.
And he succeeded. As the fighters were being introduced, Tapia walked over to Ayala and gave him a shove, which set the tone for an intense encounter.
Tapia, a slick boxer and a better athlete than some might realize, boxed and moved in the early rounds but eventually began to stand and trade with Ayala. The give and take – hard shots to the body from both fighters, head-snapping combinations, a frenetic pace – had the crowd in a tizzy in what would ultimately be named The Ring Magazine Fight of the Year.
When it was over, Ayala had won a close, but unanimous decision and Tapia had his first loss.
“I dreamed of becoming a world champion since I was a little boy,” said Ayala, who also was named Fighter of the Year. “I grew up in a fight town, in Forth Worth. Six world champions in the 1980s trained simultaneously in the same gym. I used to spar with some of them. I had a lot of experience preparing myself.
“And back in the late ’80s, I used to watch Johnny on TV. I liked the way he fought. I thought he was a flashy, entertaining fighter. To have it come full circle, to face this guy for a world title and win, was great.”
Ayala (left) Tapia gave fans another compelling fight in their rematch. John Gurzinski /AFP via Getty Images
Then came the rematch on Oct. 7, 2000 at the MGM Grand.
Of course, Tapia wanted a chance to regain his title. And Ayala was more than happy to oblige him. He knew his victory was no fluke but he wanted to prove that to doubters. He also knew that the rematch would earn him a career-high purse, reportedly $400,000.
The fighters agreed to a catch weight of 124 pounds, a nod to Tapia, who was battling weight issues. If he was more comfortable in the rematch, however, it didn’t show. The fight was competitive and entertaining once again, and the scores were close, but Ayala felt he handled his rival more easily than he had in their first meeting.
“He got me with some single shots at first but I was able to pick him apart a little easier than the first fight,” he said.
Ayala (35-3, 12 KOs) would successfully defend his title three times and then go on to beat Bones Adams in two memorable junior featherweight fights in 2001 and 2002, both of which went the distance. He lost to the great Mexicans Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera in 2002 and 2004 and then called it quits.
He lives with his wife in Fort Worth as an empty nester but might be busier now than he was when he was fighting. He owns and runs a gym, where many of his clients use a boxing regimen to battle Parkinson’s disease. He doesn’t have many regrets.
“I wish I’d done a little more trash talking,” he said with a laugh. “Maybe I would’ve made a little more money.”
Tapia (59-5-2, 30 KOs)? He would continue to fight with some success for another decade, into his 40s. And then he was gone. The man who survived multiple suicide attempts and drug overdoses was found dead at his home in Albuquerque on May 27, 2012 at 45. Official cause of death: Heart disease.
The three-division titleholder, who was inducted posthumously into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2017, was the type of character who will never be forgotten. The same might be said of his two-fight series with Ayala, at least for hardcore fans. They were classics.
Promoter Fernando Beltran said that Gennadiy Golovkin is “an ideal opponent’’ for Jaime Munguia.
Jamie Munguia returned to Tijuana this week with a victory that his promoter hopes will finally lead to a fight with Gennadiy Golovkin.
Promoter Fernando Beltran said that Golovkin is “an ideal opponent’’ for Munguia.
“(GGG) is already [37] years old, but he is no longer the destroyer that he was three or four years ago,’’ Beltran said at a news conference welcoming Munguia home after his stoppage of Gary O’Sullivan last Saturday in San Antonio. “His reflexes are half-a-second or a second delayed, and the punches he receives are hurting him.
“I think that at this moment, it would be the fight that suits Jaime the most.”
A Munguia fight with GGG was discussed two years ago. But the Nevada State Athletic Commission said no, citing Munguia’s lack of experience against world-class middleweights. Munguia, trained by four-division champion Erik Morales, also was mentioned as a possible opponent for Canelo Alvarez.
The 23-year-old Mungia (35-0, 28 KOs) won a junior middleweight title, scoring a fourth-round stoppage of Sadam Ali on May 21, 2018 at Verona, N.Y. He defended the belt five times before moving up to middleweight for an 11th-round TKO of O’Sullivan.
“I’ll fight with whomever my promoter and my working team decide,’’ Munguia said at the news conference. “There are several options on the table, but we have to go step by step and see what is best for us.”
Hall of Famer Erik Morales was critical of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. for quitting and his father for defending him.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has been criticized in Mexico over his decision to quit after the fifth round because of a broken nose suffered against Danny Jacobs.
Erik Morales, one Mexico’s greats, ripped Chavez Jr. and his iconic father, Julio Cesar Chavez, who defended him in the wake of widespread outrage at the abrupt end to the fight Friday night at Talking Stick Arena on DAZN.
Angry fans at the arena booed and tossed debris at Chavez after the fight.
“When you are hurt or suffer a fracture you can fight,” Morales said Sunday on Twitter. “The decision not to fight should be respected, but the decision of those who paid to see a show must also be respected.
“You cannot disrespect the fans and journalists with loud words because they think differently. The fans should be respected.”
Within hours after fans in a crowd of about 12,000 threw cups full of beer, plastic water bottles and assorted other garbage at the ring, Chavez Sr. took to social media in defense of his son.
Chavez Jr. said his injures were the result of dirty tactics – head butts and elbows – although video clearly shows that a right hand from Jacobs broke his nose and cut him above the left eye.
“With all due respect to the fans of Phoenix, Arizona, right now I disagree with you, my son was making a competitive fight and was winning,” wrote Chavez, who appeared in a photo next to his son in a hospital bed. “Unfortunately, a head clash and an elbow comes and my son has a broken nose and will now undergo surgery.’’
His son had surgery for fractures in his nose and had 10 stitches for the cut above his eye.
Another notable fighter, Mikey Garcia, also criticized Chavez Jr., according to promoter Eddie Hearn. Garcia was seated at ringside next to Hearn and near Jessie Vargas. They were there to help promote their fight Feb. 29 in Frisco, Texas. The welterweight bout on DAZN was announced last week.
When Chavez Jr. said he would not continue, Hearn said Garcia turned to him and said:
Leo Santa Cruz believes it might be possible for him to win a title in a fifth weight division.
LAS VEGAS – Leo Santa Cruz has stated his goal of joining fellow Mexican-born stars who have won major titles in four divisions, Erik Morales, Jorge Arce and Juan Manuel Marquez.
Santa Cruz might not stop there, though. How about five divisions?
“It’s possible,” said Santa Cruz, who makes his debut at 130 pounds against Miguel Flores on the Deontay Wilder-Luis Ortiz card Saturday at the MGM Grand.
Santa Cruz (36-1-1, 19 knockouts) has won belts at 118, 122 and 126. Next on the list is 130, assuming he can beat Flores (24-2, 12 KOs) and lure one of the junior lightweight titleholders into the ring.
So the resident of Los Angeles already knows what it’s like to move up in weight and face bigger men. He’s done it gradually – fighting at each weight multiple times – and successfully. His move to 130 is no different.
As in the past, he works on increasing his punching power through strength training and sparring with bigger men without forsaking his specialty – volume punching, which is a product of intense conditioning.
He said his sparring partners have told him that his punches are heavier than in the past.
“I know they’re bigger guys,” Santa Cruz told Boxing Junkie at the final news conference before his fight Saturday. “I’m a big guy, too. I go up to around 140, 140-something pounds. I’m getting used to this weight.
“I’m sparring bigger guys who fight at 135, 140, so I won’t see that much of a difference. I’m going try this weight now and see how it goes.”
And that title in a fifth division? Is that realistic?
“Yeah, I think so,” he said. “Like I said, I go up to 140-something. I work really hard on my body. I think I can go up to 135.”
Pablo Cesar Cano survived a first-round knock down to stop Roberto Ortiz in Round 2 Saturday, Cano’s third straight victory.
Pablo Cesar Cano is a living example that good things can happen if you don’t give up, both in his career and in his fight on Saturday.
The Mexican junior welterweight went through a stretch between 2012 and 2017 when he went 4-6 (with one no-contest). He lost to some good fighters and came up short on some close decisions. Still, the boxer-puncher seemed to be going nowhere.
Then, this past January in New York, Cano turned in one of the year’s biggest upsets when he stopped Jorge Linares in the first round. He followed that with another victory on Saturday in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, although it came with a scare courtesy of opponent Roberto Ortiz.
Cano (33-7-1, 23 knockouts) came out firing at the opening bell but it was Cano, perhaps overconfident, who went down from a big right and was hurt. However, he survived and quickly turned the tables. In second round, Ortiz went down under a barrage of hard shots and couldn’t continue.
Pablo Cesar Cano, who went down in the first round, turned the tables on Roberto Ortiz in Round 2. Tom Hogan-Hoganphotos / Golden Boy Promotions
“Ortiz was a great opponent,” Cano said. “We were aware of how strong he was and how much power he had in his shots. He caught me early, but because of my conditioning, I was able to recover well and go for the knockout.”
That makes three consecutive victories for Cano, the first time he has turned that trick since 2012. He was ranked No. 6 by one sanctioning body, meaning a title shot might not be far off if he continues to win.
Cano lost to Erik Morales in his only fight for a world title back in 2011. He lost to then-welterweight titleholder Paulie Malignaggi the following but failed to make weight, meaning he couldn’t win the belt.
In the co-main event, Ricardo Sandoval (17-1, 12 KOs) stopped Gilberto Gonzalez(15-3-1, 12 KOs) in the fifth round of a scheduled 10-round flyweight fight.
Leo Santa Cruz has moved up to 130 pounds in a bid to become the fourth Mexican-born fighter to win a title in a fourth division.
Erik Morales was the first to do it. Jorge Arce and Juan Manuel Marquez did it. Now it’s Leo Santa Cruz’s turn.
Santa Cruz, who has won belts at bantamweight, junior featherweight and featherweight, is moving up the scale to junior lightweight in a bid to become the fourth Mexican-born fighter to win a title in a fourth division against Miguel Flores on the Deontay Wilder-Luis Ortiz card Nov. 23 in Las Vegas.
“My dream was to be a four-division world champion,’’ Santa Cruz said in a conference call. “I wanted to win the title so when I retire, I’m remembered as one of the only fighters that wins a fourth title, in four divisions. Not a lot of people do that. So that was my dream.
“I have the opportunity. So I’m going to go for it and hopefully everything goes good. People ask me, and I say, I don’t know what’s going to happen that day on November 23. But if I win, I want the big fights.’’
Miguel Flores will be the underdog when he faces Leo Santa Cruz for a vacant 130-pound title on Nov. 23. Hosanna Rull / iRULL FOTOS
Santa Cruz (36-1-1, 19 knockouts), who is fighting for a vacant 130-pound belt, is moving into the division just as Gervonta Davis is leaving it. Davis has moved up to lightweight and will face Yuriokis Gamboa on Dec. 28 in Atlanta.
“I want the big names that people will want me to fight,’’ said Santa Cruz, who mentioned Gary Russell Jr.
A week after Santa Cruz’s junior lightweight debut, Oscar Valdez Jr. another former featherweight champion, will fight for the first time at 130 pounds against Andres Gutierrez on Nov. 30 in Las Vegas. Santa Cruz-Valdez was seen as good featherweight bout, but it never happened because of the usual promotional divides. Valdez is a Top Rank fighter; Premier Boxing Champions promotes Cruz.
It’s likely that Santa Cruz will get his title in a fourth division. He is a significant favorite to beat Flores (24-2, 12 KOs), who is 2-2 in his last four fights.
“I train hard no matter who the opponent is,’’ Santa Cruz said Wednesday at a media workout at City of Angeles Boxing. “That’s the only thing I know how to do. So I don’t think about any let downs, only about winning the fight in front of me. I think this is a great opportunity to introduce myself to the division.’’
Mexican Canelo Alvarez claimed to win a title in a fourth division when he stopped light heavyweight Sergey Kovalev on Nov. 2. However, one of his titles is the WBA’s “regular” version, which Boxing Junkie doesn’t recognize.
