7/27/2019 Manny Pacquiao | Biography, Facts, & Notable Fights | Britannica.

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Manny Pacquiao, in full Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao, byname Pac-Man, (born December 17,
1978, Kibawe, Bukidnon province, Mindanao, Philippines), professional boxer, media celebrity, and
politician who became world-famous for winning boxingtitles in more weight classes than any other boxer
in history. His rise from abjectpoverty to the pinnacle of his sport was made even more remarkable by his
life outside the ring. The charismatic “Pac-Man” was an idol and a unifying force in the Philippines, where
his unprecedented popularity led to commercial endorsements, movies, television shows, CDs, and his
image on a postage stamp.

Pacquiao left home as a teenager and stowed away on a ship bound for Manila, where he became a
boxer. He made his professional debut as a junior flyweight on January 22, 1995, at the age of 16. Many
of his early bouts were televised on a program called Blow by Blow, where his all-action style and boyish
smile quickly made him a favourite with Filipino boxing fans. He won his first major title on December 4,
1998, knocking out Thailand’s Chatchai Sasakul to capture the World Boxing Council (WBC) flyweight
title. After failing to make weight, however, he lost the title to Medgoen Singsurat of Thailand
in September 1999. Pacquiao moved up in weight class, and on June 23, 2001, in his first fight in
the United States, he scored a sixth-round knockout of Lehlo Ledwaba to win the International Boxing
Federation (IBF) junior featherweight title. Following four successful defenses, he knocked
out Mexico’s Marco Antonio Barrera on November 15, 2003, to become The Ring magazine
featherweight champion.

Over the next several years, Pacquiao engaged in a series of high-profile fights, winning the World Boxing
Association (WBA) and IBF featherweight titles, the WBC and The Ring’s junior lightweight titles, and the
WBC lightweight title. His rise was aided by American trainer Freddie Roach, who gradually transformed
the left-handed slugger into a multifaceted boxer without detracting from his natural aggression or
punching power. He was the Boxing Writers Association of America and The Ring’s Fighter of the Year in
2006 and 2008.

On December 6, 2008, Pacquiao faced and thrashed American boxing star Oscar De La Hoya in a
celebrated nontitle welterweight bout in Las Vegas. By then Pacquiao had become a complete fighter,
combining excellent footwork, blazing speed, and a vastly improved defense, and he was widely
considered, pound for pound, the world’s finest boxer. In addition, Pacquiao’s popularity as a pay-per-
view (PPV) boxing attraction had increased steadily since 2002, but the match with De La Hoya was his
breakthrough as a global phenomenon. The fight sold approximately 1.25 million buys, generating roughly
$70 million in PPV revenue, one of the largest PPV grosses in history for a nonheavyweight bout.

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On May 2, 2009, Pacquiao won The Ring’s junior welterweight championship (his sixth weight class as a
champion and his ninth as a professional boxer) with a spectacular one-punch second-round knockout of
England’s Ricky Hatton. On November 14 he added another championship belt—in a record seventh
weight class—when he defeated Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico in 12 rounds to take the World Boxing
Organization (WBO) welterweight title. Pacquiao defended that title on March 13, 2010,
in Arlington, Texas, by defeating Ghanaian boxer Joshua Clottey in 12 rounds. He increased his weight-
class titles record to eight when, on November 13, 2010, he soundly defeated WBC super welterweight
champion Antonio Margarito, who outweighed Pacquiao by 17 pounds at the time of the fight.

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