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.