Oct 10
18
The Filipinos will be on the spotlight once again as The Pound-for-Pound King, Manny Pacquiao attempts to make history once again by breaking his own unprecedented record, being the only boxer to Win Nine World Titles in Seven Weight Classes. Now, he’s looking for his tenth gold in a tougher, higher weight class, the Super Welterweight Division to be exact.
Pacquiao has never been out of place, in every weight class he stepped in. He had defeated a number of Mexican fighters earning moniker as “The Mexicutioner”. Among the notable faces were Marco Antonio Barrera, Jorge Solis, and Erik Morales. He had also an encounter twice with a conventional-scientific Mexican boxer, Juan Manuel Marquez. The first encounter resulted in a controversial draw. After a couple of years, rematch was set which dubbed as the “Unfinished Business”. Like the first, the match went also into a controversial ending but this time, it favored Pacquiao. It’s a split-decision victory over Marquez.
Another great chapter opened for Pacquiao on June 28, 2008 as he went up to Lightweight Division taking on the former Olympian David Diaz. Despite of his opponent tall and reach advantage, Pacquiao made a major upset annihilating David Diaz by with his blinding speed and punching power, winning the WBC Lightweight Title by a Technical Knockout at round 9.
Pacquiao’s worldwide popularity grew more when a “never-thought-to-happen” square off dubbed as “The Dream Match” took place on December 6, 2008 at MGM Grand Arena which involved him and the legendary “Golden Boy” Oscar De la Hoya. The match was set up in a Welterweight Bout. During the Match Build-Up, everybody says that The Filipino Pride has no match against the Golden Boy. But then, Pacquiao shocked the whole world once again by assaulting De la Hoya with his more refined, blinding boxing style. The match resulted into a Technical Knockout win for Pacquiao at round 8 after De la Hoya’s camp refused to continue. The match had drawn a great magnitude among the fans. A famous boxing commentator, Larry Merchant stated that Pacquiao can be compared to the great Henry Armstrong. Others also stated that this match will be one of the greatest boxing matches of all time.
Another history in the making moment came on to Pacquiao when he was pitted against Ricky Hatton for the IBO and Ring Magazine Junior Welterweight Championship. The Filipino Pride had a decisive victory, knocking out his opponent twice at round one and finally shutting him down at round two after a vicious hook at Hatton’s chin.
On November 14, 2009, Pacquiao was scheduled to fight the former undefeated, also former Olympian Miguel Cotto. Pacquiao’s opponent was known for his great fighting skill, resiliency and ability to absorb the punishment inflicted on him. Despite of that, Pacquiao’s lightning speed and strong punching power managed to dethrone and took the WBO Welterweight Title away from Cotto by Round Twelve by Technical Knockout. On that event also, Pacquiao won the historical WBC Diamond Belt. According to WBC, the belt was crafted as an honorary championship exclusive for the winner of a historic fight between two high-profile boxers. The event generated 1.25M buys and 70M $ in domestic Pay-per-View revenue making it as the most watched boxing event in 2009.
Recently, Pacquiao successfully defended the newly won WBO Welterweight Title against Ghana’s Pride, Joshua Clottey. Many boxing analysts and critics said that Clottey’s intention was not to win the fight but to survive the twelve rounds and keep himself away from knocking out. The match received a lot of negative comments due to lack of action.
Now, another challenge has been issued upon The Filipino Pride. He is scheduled to take on Antonio Margarito for the WBC Super Welterweight Title on November 13, 2010, Saturday, about 9:00 P.M. The match would take place at Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Margarito was also one of the Best in the Welterweight Class. He had beaten the likes of Miguel Cotto, Kermit Cintrón, Roberto Garcia and Antonio Diaz. However, his reputation was stained recently because of the controversial hand wraps worn during his fight with Shane Mosley. The CSAC or California State Athletic Commission found out that the hand wraps contain sulfur and calcium, in which, if combined with Oxygen becomes “Plaster of Paris”. Will The Filipino Pride rise to occasion once again? Or the Tijuana’s Tornado will succeed stopping the “Pacquiao Onslaught”? That question will be answered soon!