Manny Pacquiao will return to the ring at the age of 46 this July, but may be a shadow of his younger knockout-artist self.
Manny Pacquiao went pro months before Mario Barrios was born. Barrios will put his welterweight world title on the line against Pacquiao on July 19th.
It will mark Pacquiao‘s first fight in four years, and potentially his first win since 2019.
Pacquiao has had just one knockout win in the last 16 years, but was once a powerhouse earlier in his career.
Manny Pacquiao busted the nose of Sung Yul Lee to keep eight-fight knockout streak
In 1996, Pacquiao took his first loss after being struck with a shoulder and low-blow simultaneously by Rustico Torrecampo.
He recovered from the loss with a unanimous decision victory, before embarking on a rampage of knockout wins.
The first victim was 30-30-5 journeyman John Medina, who put up a valiant effort to make it to the fourth round against the lightning fast Pacquiao.
Two more early knockouts saw Pacquiao’s KO streak rise, and, after being matched with 1-3-1 Sung Yul Lee, seemed destined to continue.
And destined it was, as Pacquiao shattered the nose of Sung Yul Lee in just the second round. A broken nose isn’t always a fight-ending injury, but in this case, Lee was unable to continue, and Pacquiao’s rampage continued.
Pacquiao, who beat Lehlo Ledwaba on two weeks’ notice, blitzed his next two foes – 20-7-4 Mike Luna, and 0-5-1 Wook Ki Lee, in just one round each.
Manny Pacquiao’s KO streak could’ve reached 29 if not for one journeyman
Discounting a couple of losses and draws, Pacquiao’s KO rate for his victories could’ve been 29-fights long after starting with his KO of John Medina in 1996.
The final KO of the potential streak was Erik Morales in their second encounter, in which Pacquiao stopped him in 10 rounds. Pacquiao’s KO of Morales froze crime in Manila for hours.
The one man who stood in the way of Pacquiao’s rampage was Melvin Magramo in 1997, whom Pacquiao beat by unanimous decision.