Manny Pacquiao – the first fighter to hold titles in 4 decades

By Boxing News - 01/02/2020 - Comments

By Kenneth Friedman: On January 1st, Manny Pacquiao created history by becoming the first fighter in the sport of boxing to hold down world titles in 4 different decades. It’s an OUTSTANDING feat that may never be duplicated agani. The 41-year-old former eight division world champion Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) has held titles in the following decades:

  • 1990s
  • 2000s
  • 2010s
  • 2020s

It’s hard to believe that Pacquiao has been able to hold world titles in 4 separate decades, and stay on top for such a long period of time. A lot of boxing fans thought Pacquiao was finished as an elite level fighter following his one-sided loss to Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather in 2015. But since then, Pacquiao has found the Fountain of Youth, and continued to find success.

Most recently, Pacquiao pulled off a huge win in defeating WBA Super World welterweight champion Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman by a 12 round split decision last summer on July 20.

Pacquiao has captured world titles in 6 weight divisions

Since turning professional in 1995, Pacquiao has won world titles in the following weight classes:

  • 112 – Chatchai Sasakul
  • 122 – Lehlohonolo Ledwaba
  • 130 – Juan Manuel Marquez
  • 135 – David Diaz
  • 147 – Miguel Cotto
  • 154 – Antonio Margarito

Manny has earned $454.8 million in the last 10 years

Pacquiao has earned $454.8 million since 2009 in ring earnings. That’s almost half a billion, and he’s still fighting. That’s an incredible amount of money. It would be amazing if the Filipino star becomes boxing’s first $1 billion fighter. But for him to do that, he’ll need a rematch with Mayweather, and he would probably need to face someone like Canelo Alvarez, Errol Spence Jr. and/or Terence Crawford.

Pacquiao likely would be favored in a rematch against 42-year-old Mayweather. There’s a chance that those two could be facing each other in 2020. If Pacquiao gets a bump up in pay from the $160 million he made for his first fight with Pacquiao, it could shoot his earnings through the roof.

Facing those guys would be the equivalent of Pacquiao running a gauntlet. He had a hard enough time in his last fight against ‘One Time’ Thurman last summer. Canelo, Spence and Crawford would arguably be a big step up for Pacquiao.

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn wants to set-up a fight between Pacquiao and former four division world champion Mikey Garcia in April or May of this year. That would be a nice payday for Pacquiao against a guy that would pose less of a risk than fighting dangerous guys like Canelo, Crawford or Spence.

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