Manny Pacquiao has won world boxing titles in eight different weight divisions, and is considered one of the world’s best boxers.
In December 1998, Pacquiao won a bout against Chatchai Sasakul of Thailand, taking the World Boxing Council flyweight title—his first major championship. Moving to a higher weight division, he scored a sixth-round technical knockout of Lehlo Ledwaba in 2001 to capture the International Boxing Federation junior featherweight title. He went on to win several high-profile bouts in the years thereafter, claiming world titles in a total of eight different weight divisions.
Ten years after his win against Sasakul, in December 2008, Pacquiao was named victor of an eight-round, non-title welterweight bout against famed American boxer Oscar De La Hoya. The fight generated nearly $70 million from viewers of pay-per-view—the broadcasting format for most of Pacquiao’s fights since the early 2000s.
Pacquiao went on to fight United Kingdom boxing star Ricky Hatton in May 2009, in a light welterweight division bout in Las Vegas. Pacquiao won the fight by a knockout in the second round, taking The Ring’s junior welterweight championship. Later that year, in November, he beat Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto in a 12-round bout, for the World Boxing Organization welterweight title—an honor he defended in 2010, when he outlasted Ghanaian boxer Joshua Clottey in a 12-round fight.
