Manny Pacquiao is known for his awe-inspiring feats, such as holding titles in eight divisions, but there was one feat that ‘Pac-Man’ commemorated in a slightly unusual way.
Manny Pacquiao retired with a record of 62-8-2, and amassed some impressive wins over his expansive career.
Pacquiao faced the likes of Floyd Mayweather, who dethroned the great Arturo Gatti, Juan Manuel Marquez, who once drank his own urine, and Tim Bradley, who recently mocked Jared Anderson, and defeated Oscar De La Hoya, one of the best amateur boxers ever, Ricky Hatton, Erik Morales, and Adrien Broner, who made Gervonta Davis cry, to name but a few.
On top of that, Pacquiao became an eight-division world champion and is the only boxer to hold world championships across four decades.
In 2019, in his penultimate fight, Pacquiao, who became known after his KO of Jorge Julio, accomplished yet another accolade, one that required a different kind of celebration.
Manny Pacquiao names dog ‘Thurman’ after record-breaking fight
Pacquiao faced Keith Thurman for the WBA super welterweight title, and, despite being 40 years old and almost ten years older than his opponent, came away with the win via split decision.
This made Pacquiao the oldest super-welterweight champion in the world, and the only boxer other than George Foreman to win world titles 20 years apart.
To commemorate this win, Pacquiao did something different, and named his pet dog ‘Thurman’ after his bested foe.
Keith Thurman confronts Manny Pacquiao over his dog’s name
Years after their fight, Thurman, who is eyeing a fight with Tim Tszyu after defeating Brock Jarvis in his comeback fight, and Pacquiao wound up in the same production studio, and, whilst Pacquiao was being interviewed, Thurman ambushed, asking the following:
“I need to know, do you still have a dog named Thurman?”
The pair erupt into laughter, shake hands and embrace before Thurman tells Pacquiao of a dog at his doctor’s surgery named Manny after his former foe.
It became clear that there was no bad blood between the pair.
This came ahead of Pacquiao’s scheduled fight with Errol Spence Jr., which didn’t happen as Spence was forced to withdraw after requiring surgery on his eye. Instead, Pacquaio faced Yordenis Ugas, and lost a close but unanimous decision.