Ranking the 10 Best Moments of Manny Pacquiao's Career

So many great boxing careers end with a whimper instead of a bang. And it certainly looks possible that this will be the case for Manny Pacquiao as well.

There is less excitement in advance of his Saturday showdown with Timothy Bradley than for any Pacquiao bout in more than a decade. 

I try to be an optimist, so I am holding out hope that the third tilt between these two will exceed expectations. Both men are, after all, very good professional prizefighters with plenty of heart. 

At the same time, I offer this list to remind fans who may have forgotten, and to edify those too young to know, that there are good reasons why Pacquiao became one of the biggest boxing attractions of all time.

10. UD 12 over Antonio Margarito, Nov. 13, 2010

The WBC claims this fight made Manny Pacquiao a junior middleweight world champion. But that is simply cynical, alphabet-soup business as usual. 

The reality is that Pacquiao had never fought above welterweight and Margarito had just once, beating a borderline contender in Roberto Garcia. Yet the WBC put the vacant 154-pound title up for grabs in this one, although at a catchweight of 150 pounds. 

Pacquiao never even defended this belt. 

Regardless, this fight was a dazzling display of Pacquiao's speed and explosive power, as he thoroughly beat up a much larger man in front of a sellout crowd in Cowboys Stadium. According to the HBO stats during the broadcast, Margarito entered the ring at nearly 20 pounds heavier than Pac-Man, 163 to 145. 

9. TKO 12 over Miguel Cotto, Nov. 14, 2009

This is another of Pacquiao's famous catchweight bouts, as Miguel Cotto was forced to weigh in at 145 pounds, two below the welterweight limit. It's worth noting, though, that Cotto had previously been a world champion at 140 pounds and had weighed in at 146 for a fight with Joshua Clottey only five months earlier. 

A bigger factor was the instability around Cotto's trainer situation before this bout. In the end, the future Hall of Famer suffered a one-sided drubbing, before finally getting stopped in Round 12. 

This fight was vintage Pacquiao. Once again, he battered a fellow legend. I'd argue that it was the last time in his career that he was both completely electrifying and dominant. 

8.TKO 6 over Lehlo Ledwaba, June 23, 2001

This was Pacquiao's first time fighting in Las Vegas, a city that would go on to become linked to his legacy as a prizefighter. At the time, he was a nearly unknown former flyweight champion who was now challenging for a title in a weight class 10 pounds north. 

This fight was on the undercard for Pacquiao's future rival, Oscar De La Hoya, who claimed the WBC super welterweight title by defeating Javier Castillejo. De La Hoya was the superstar on this night, but Pacquiao stole the show. 

IBF super bantamweight champion Lehlo Ledwaba had made five straight successful defenses coming into this bout. But Pacquiao won the first five rounds on all three cards and then closed the show in Round 6. 

7. D 12 with Juan Manuel Marquez, May 8, 2004

Pacquiao might not have won this fight, but it still helped to make him a legend. And in Round 1, he put on one of the great explosive displays of his celebrated career, flooring Juan Manuel Marquez three times. 

The greatest boxing rivalry of this century almost never had the chance to get started. 

In the end, a big part of the story in this fight was Marquez's remarkable ability to recover and the brilliant tactical fight he waged to force a draw after dropping far behind on the cards.

The greatest stars in boxing history have usually needed great rivals to help define them. Pacquiao and Marquez found that in each other on this night in 2004.

6. KO 3 over Erik Morales, Nov. 18, 2006

Pacquiao had already knocked out Erik "El Terrible" Morales earlier in the year, before the two met for a third time in November 2006. But that KO had only made them even. 

The rubber match was all Pac-Man, as he stopped El Terrible with just seconds remaining in the third round. This fight took place in the middle of a four-fight losing streak for Morales, who was no longer the same great fighter he had been even a year or two before. 

But it was also a remarkable performance for Pacquiao, as he broke a man who had previously seemed unbreakable. 

5. SD 12 over Juan Manuel Marquez, March 15, 2008

I think Juan Manuel Marquez won this fight. But two of three judges disagreed with me, and so it has gone in the record books as one of the signature wins of Pacquiao's illustrious career. 

And although I think Marquez won, I'd disagree with anybody calling this one a robbery. It was a competitive, back-and-forth war.

As was always the case when these two faced off, both men had their moments. Marquez wobbled Pacquiao in the second, but Pac-Man came back to drop the Mexican legend in Round 3.

That knockdown proved the margin of victory for Pacquiao, as judge Tom Miller scored the bout 114-113 for Pacquiao. Otherwise, he would have had it even, leading to a second draw between the two rivals.   

4. TKO 10 over Erik Morales, Jan. 21, 2006

Eight months earlier, Erik Morales had edged Pacquiao by unanimous decision, 115-113 on all three cards. Pacquiao had been cut badly by an accidental head-butt during the bout and seemed bothered by it throughout the fight. 

This time around, he encountered no distractions. He battered Morales with punches from every angle. 

Morales was always a fearless, come-forward fighter who was willing to take an opponent's punch to land his own. This was his downfall in his second fight with Pacquiao. The Filipino's punches were simply more powerful, and the fight became more one-sided as the rounds progressed. 

3. TKO 11 over Marco Antonio Barrera, Nov. 15, 2003

It would be accurate to say that this is the fight that truly launched Pacquiao as a boxing superstar. At the time, Marco Antonio Barrera had already fought the first two of his epic three fights with Erik Morales and was one of boxing's most celebrated ring warriors. 

He was also the lineal featherweight champion. Pacquiao was on the radar with hardcore fans, but Barrera was the A-side fighter for this bout. 

But Pacquiao was clearly a level above the legend on this night. He knocked Barrera down in Round 3 and again in Round 11, which stopped the fight. 

I can agree to a point with fans who claim Pacquiao has been overhyped in his career. That's the nature of the fight game. But no honest observer can watch this bout and deny that Pacquiao was also truly great. 

2. KO 2 over Ricky Hatton, May 2, 2009

Ricky Hatton has been the biggest British boxing star of this century, and his countrymen came across the Atlantic in huge numbers to support their hero when he faced Pacquiao in Las Vegas. The MGM Grand sounded like a Manchester football pitch, as the fight song for Manchester City F.C. echoed off the walls of the building. 

But all that passion and moral support proved futile when Hatton climbed into the ring. Pacquiao jumped all over the lineal light welterweight champion, knocking him down twice in Round 1. 

Pacquiao floored him for good with a beautiful straight left in Round 2. It remains one of the most spectacular knockouts of this century. 

1. TKO 8 over Oscar De La Hoya, Dec. 6, 2008

There will probably be fans in the comment section who will dismiss this performance due to the 145-pound catchweight. And I agree that might have played a part in the outcome. 

But chalk that up to De La Hoya's own hubris. He believed he could drop below 150 pounds for the first time in seven years at age 35 and still perform at a high level. He was the biggest star in the sport at the time and readily agreed to the cut. 

And heading into this bout, he was the favorite. Thomas Hauser, writing for ESPN.com, expressed a popular sentiment when he stated that De La Hoya was much too big for Pacquiao. 

Instead, Pacquiao turned in a stunning display, thoroughly hammering the future Hall of Famer and making him retire on his stool. In boxing, to be a legend you have to beat one, and in this fight, Pacquiao routed the biggest star in his career.