Manny Pacquiao was one of the biggest stars in boxing for a number of years.
The Filipino great held world titles in eight divisions, beating fighters such as Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez, Tim Bradley, Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton and Marco Antonio Barrera along the way.
It was another rival that Pacquiao once put in one of his best ever performances against though, when he stepped up to 154lbs back in November 2010.
Having had title fights at super-lightweight and welterweight over the past 18 months, Pacquiao dared to be great once again when he competed for the vacant WBC super-welterweight title.
The man standing in the opposite corner was Antonio Margarito, the controversial former welterweight champion who had been banned from the sport after he was caught with illegal hand wraps ahead of a fight with Mosley in 2009.
Speaking in the build-up to his clash with Margarito, Pacquiao was convinced that his rival would have known he was ‘cheating’.
“He is just making some alibi. He is the one who wraps his hands and he doesn’t know what is in there? Of course he knows. What do you think? My belief is he knows that.”
Pacquiao won the fight against Margarito in dominant fashion, with the judges scoring it 120-108, 119-109 and 118-108. Margarito was taken to hospital where it was confirmed his left orbital bone was fractured.
Despite believing that Margarito had been cheating, ‘Pac-Man’ declared that he wanted the referee to stop the fight due to the punishment he was taking.
“I can’t believe that I beat someone this big and this strong. I told the referee, ‘Look at his eyes, look at his cuts.’ I did not want to damage him permanently. That’s not what boxing is about.”
Margarito would have his final fight in 2017 after a record of 41 wins, 8 defeats and 1 no contest, while Pacquiao is yet to officially retire, with his record standing at 62 wins, 8 losses and 2 draws.
