Ranking the Greatest Victories of Manny Pacquiao's Career

It's not possible to become one of the most popular boxers in the world without winning a lot of very big fights. Manny Pacquiao's resume of victories over fellow pound-for-pound stars stretches from his stoppage of Marco Antonio Barrera 11 years ago to his unanimous decision over Timothy Bradley earlier this year.

When ranking these wins, I've tried to balance to some degree between importance to Pacquiao's legacy and how impressive the win actually was given the fighter he was facing at the time. But I've given slightly more weight to how impressive the performance was. 

Still, these were all legacy defining fights. And they were all over top champions, most of them future Hall of Famers.   

10. UD over Timothy Bradley, 4-12-2014

Like most people with functioning eyesight, I felt Manny Pacquiao clearly deserved to win his first fight with Timothy Bradley, in June 2012. Bradley's split-decision victory isn't the worst boxing verdict of the past five years, but it's certainly in the discussion.

By the time they met again last April, Pacquiao had been knocked cold by Juan Manuel Marquez. Bradley had edged Marquez by split decision in a fight that I don't think was actually that close.

So heading into the rematch, it looked like Pacquiao might be on his way down and ripe for a legitimate loss this time around. Instead, he looked a lot like his old self. He used superior speed and better boxing strategy to grind through some close early rounds and win going away down the stretch.

It was a win that pushed him back up near the top of the pound-for-pound rankings.

9. TKO 6 over Lehlo Ledwaba, 6-23-2001

Lehlo Ledwaba is by far the least celebrated name on this list. Most of the other fighters listed here are future Hall of Famers.

But Pacquiao's Round 6 stoppage of the tough South African in 2001 was crucial for developing Pacquiao's career. At the time, he was an obscure former flyweight champion who had been knocked out twice.

The win over Ledwaba gave Pacquiao the IBF belt at super bantamweight. It happened in Las Vegas on an Oscar De La Hoya card, so it put Pacquiao on the map with serious boxing fans in the U.S.

The impact of Pacquiao's breakout performance can be seen from reading this Dan Rafael column in the next day's USA Today. Pacquiao was still a very long way from the status he would eventually claim, but it was a critical first step.

8. KO 2 over Ricky Hatton, 5-2-2009

For pure aesthetic quality, this could definitely be rated higher on this list. Pacquiao's one-shot knockout of Ricky Hatton was as picture-perfect as they come. 

But Hatton was a perfectly designed fighter for Pacquiao to lay out that way. And the names on the list ahead of Hatton are all better fighters than the Manchester, England, native.

Still, it was a great win, especially considering the manner in which it happened. Hatton had already received his first career loss, to Floyd Mayweather, at this point, but he remained one of the sport's biggest stars. Just as they had done for his fight with Mayweather, Hatton's U.K. fans flew over to Vegas in droves.

While both Mayweather and Pacquiao stopped Hatton, Pacman's one-hitter quitter was the more dramatic victory and has fueled his own partisan base in the endless online debates over which superstar is truly the best.   

7. SD over Juan Manuel Marquez, 7-15-2008

I actually think Juan Manuel Marquez deserved to win this fight. But it was far too close to be derided as a "robbery." 

It was an epic back-and-forth war between two legends still at the height of their ability. And Manny Pacquiao definitely deserves credit for knocking Marquez down in Round 3. In a very close fight, it's tough to complain about the win going to the man who knocked the other one down. 

This fight came four years after Pacquiao and Marquez's epic draw and three years before their third installment, won by Pacquiao via a highly disputed majority decision. Although Pacquiao did not come away with a clear victory in this one, he fought brilliantly in spots, and it was a great second chapter for this century's biggest boxing rivalry.

6. UD over Marco Antonio Barrera, 10-16-2007

Manny Pacquiao's second win over Marco Antonio Barrera was less dominant than his stoppage four years earlier. It was also far less historically significant.

Barrera had lost to Juan Manuel Marquez seven months earlier and would never again win an important fight after losing to Pacquiao for the second time. But "The Baby Faced Assassin" was also fresh off a run as a dominant super featherweight champion.

Pacquiao might have caught him when his own career was still climbing and Barrera's was starting to dip. But we're still talking about a legend.

Barrera is one of the top boxers of the past 20 years. In this second meeting, Pacquiao beat him with relative ease.

5. KO 3 over Erik Morales, 11-18-2006

An early stoppage of a great fighter like Erik Morales is a major accomplishment, so there's no question this win played a big role in building Manny Pacquiao's legacy. The two legends had split their first two fights. Winning the rubbermatch in dramatic fashion kept Pacquiao's surging stock on the rise.

But I don't rank it as highly as Pacquaio's stoppage over Morales 10 months previous. The first victory over Morales avenged one of his few career losses and did more for establishing his place among his contemporaries.

It also came when Morales was on his way down. It was the third fight in a four-fight losing streak for Morales. He'd fight just once more after this loss before retiring for nearly three years.

4. TKO 8 over Oscar De La Hoya, 12-6-2008

I sometimes hear this win denigrated because Oscar De La Hoya was "old" and "drained from making weight" when Manny Pacquiao dismantled him by Round 8 TKO. But De La Hoya was just 35 when that fight happened, the same age Pacquiao is now. The previous year he had fought to a split decision with Floyd Mayweather.

To a significant degree, Pacquiao made De La Hoya old that night in the ring.

The weight cutdown to the 145-pound catchweight is a more legitimate criticism of the win. I don't feel sorry for De La Hoya, who was  a superstar bargaining from a position of great strength. But I don't doubt that getting down to a weight he hadn't been below in a decade was a physical ordeal. 

Before the fight, though, most of the criticism I remember was being leveled at De La Hoya for fighting a former flyweight. And the win has to be counted as one of the biggest of Pacquiao's career simply for the way it elevated his stock to a new heights.

3. TKO 12 over Miguel Cotto, 11-14-2009

This is another one of Manny Pacquiao's victories disparaged by his detractors because it was held at a catchweight. While I have some sympathy for that complaint when it comes to his stoppage of Oscar De La Hoya, against Miguel Cotto, the criticism is unwarranted.

Five months before Cotto fought Pacquiao at 145 pounds, he weighed 146 to face Joshua Clottey. We're simply not looking at the same type of dynamic as when De La Hoya came all the way down to a weight he hadn't seen in a decade.

I do think Cotto was at less than his best during this fight due to personal problems and lack of a consistent trainer. In the ring, he made tactical errors that ended with him fighting exactly the kind of fight that the speedy and aggressive Pacman prefers.

But most of the credit should go to Pacquiao for beating one of the other biggest stars of his generation in such a one-sided manner. It's by far the worst loss of Cotto's Hall of Fame career.

2. TKO 10 over Erik Morales, 1-21-06

This is one of the wins that helped make Manny Pacquiao's claim to truly elite status undeniable. There was never any question that Pacman was an explosive and dangerous puncher with a fan-friendly style. This win over Morales helped to showcase his continued development as an all-around boxer under the tutelage of Freddie Roach.

Less than a year before, Pacquiao had lost an exciting war to Morales. It was a very competitive fight, but Morales had clearly deserved to win.

Most of this rematch was competitive, but Pacquiao had taken clear control on the cards entering the final, decisive round. In the 10th, Pacquiao's power was simply too much for the great Mexican ring warrior, as Morales was stopped for the first time in his career.

1. TKO 11 over Marco Antonio Barrera, 11-15-2003

More than any other, this fight from 11 years ago is the one that propelled Manny Pacquiao up near the top of boxing's food chain. Pacquiao was a two-division world champion heading into this one and already a national hero in the Philippines. Hardcore boxing fans were certainly aware of him as an exciting fighter with an explosive left hand.

But at the time, Barrera was a pound-for-pound superstar. In the two years before facing Pacquiao, Barrera had given Naseem Hamed his first loss and evened the score against Erik Morales. He had breezed by Johnny Tapia and knocked out Kevin Kelley in four rounds.

It seemed like he would simply be too big and too talented for the former flyweight.

Instead, Pacquiao's speed overwhelmed Barrera. Pacquiao was well up on all three cards when he closed the deal in Round 11.

Pacquiao would continue to improve as a fighter after this win and would go on to gain ever-greater amounts of popularity. But I'd argue that in the development of his career, both in the ring and outside of it, no single win has been bigger than this one.