Manny Pacquiao will go down in history as a legend of boxing, but there was a time when ‘Pac-Man’ flew under everyone’s radar, until one night.
In 2002, years before his highlight reel knockout of Ricky Hatton, his wars with Erik Morales, or even his clash with Floyd Mayweather, who dethroned Arturo Gatti years prior, Manny Pacquiao had a moment that took him from being an unknown Filipino fighter to the heights of boxing stardom.
That moment took place on the undercard of one of the biggest heavyweight match-ups ever made – Lennox Lewis vs Mike Tyson.
Manny Pacquiao delivers brutal knockout of boxing veteran on Mike Tyson’s undercard
In his penultimate fight, Lennox Lewis, then 39-2-1, defended his undisputed heavyweight title against 49-3 Mike Tyson, who took shots from the hardest puncher Frank Bruno ever faced.
The clash saw Lewis stop ‘Iron Mike,’ cementing his legacy as one of the best heavyweights to ever live, but it was a moment on the undercard that caught the attention of many.
Pacquiao, then 33-2-1 was set to face 44-3 veteran, Jorge Julio, in defense of his IBF super-bantamweight title.
Pacquiao dropped Julio twice before stopping him in just the second round, marking the first stoppage loss of Julio’s career.
The fight displayed more than just an entertaining stoppage, but showed Pacquiao’s aggression, speed, and talent, with one commentator stating:
“This is some prospect Bobby, to me he’s every bit as exciting as Prince Naseem Hamed.”
The other replied: “He really is. He can punch, he can take a punch, he’s aggressive and he loves to fight.”
Pacquiao, to this day, remains the only boxing champion to have won world titles in eight weight divisions.
Manny Pacquiao rolled back the years to become oldest super-welterweight champion ever
In the closing chapter of his career, Pacquiao took on Keith Thurman, who stopped Brock Jarvis in his recent comeback fight.
At the time of the bout, Thurman was 31, whilst Pacquiao was 40 years old. Despite this, ‘Pac-Man’ was able to roll back the years, and defeated Thurman on a split decision to win the WBA super-welterweight title.
He became the oldest to ever hold the title and joined George Foreman as the only other boxer to win world titles 20 years apart.