Biography
Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao (born December 17, 1978), simply known as Manny Pacquiao or Pac-Man, is a Filipino professional boxer. He is currently the WBC Lightweight Champion and the WBC Super Featherweight Champion, and was the former world champion at IBF Super Bantamweight, and WBC Flyweight divisions, therefore making him the first Filipino and Asian boxer to win four world titles in four weight divisions. He took over as the Ring Magazine pound for pound number 1 ranked boxer in the world on June 9, 2008 after Floyd Mayweather, Jr. announced his retirement from boxing.
Pacquiao started his professional boxing career in 1995 at 106 lbs (Light flyweight) at the age of 16 years. His early fights usually took place in small venues and were shown on Vintage Sports’ Blow by Blow, an evening boxing show. His professional debut was a 4-round bout against Edmund Ignacio on January 22, 1995, which Pacquiao won via decision, becoming an instant star of the program.
His weight increased from 106 to 113 lbs before losing in his 12th bout against Rustico Torrecampo via a third-round technical knockout (TKO). As what sportscaster Joaquin “Quinito” Henson observed, Pacquiao clearly had not made weight. So he was forced to use heavier gloves than Torrecampo, thereby putting Pacquiao at a disadvantage.[citation needed]
Shortly after the Torrecampo fight, Pacquiao settled at 112 lbs, winning the WBC Flyweight title over Chatchai Sasakul in the eighth round only to lose it in his second defense against Medgoen Singsurat, or Medgoen 3K Battery, via a third-round knockout on a bout held at Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand. Technically, Pacquiao lost the belt at the scales by surpassing the required weight of 112 lbs (51 kg).
Following his loss to Singsurat, Pacquiao gained weight anew, this time stopping at the superbantamweight division of 122 lbs (55 kg), where he picked up the WBC International Super Bantamweight title, defending it five times before his next world title fight came.
Pacquiao’s big break came on June 23, 2001, against IBF Super Bantamweight champion Lehlohonolo Ledwaba. Pacquiao stepped into the fight as a late replacement and won the fight by technical knockout to become the IBF Super Bantamweight champion on a bout held at MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada. He defended this title four times and fought to a sixth-round draw against Agapito Sanchez in a bout that was stopped early after Pacquiao received a headbutt.
