Thirteen years on from his shock knockout defeat to Juan Manuel Marquez, Manny Pacquiao has finally revealed the one man that punched harder than the Mexican great.
After three memorable encounters, Pacquiao and Marquez locked horns for the fourth and final time on December 8, 2012 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Whilst there were no world titles on the line, the stakes couldn’t have been higher with Marquez searching for an all important victory over the Filipino great, who had racked up victories in their second and third bouts.
Despite being behind on the scorecards going into the sixth round, Marquez landed a thunderous right hand on ‘PacMan’, forcing the referee to call a halt to the contest almost immediately, bringing an end to their bitter rivalry.
Although he had been on the receiving end of that huge right hand from ‘Dinamita’, Pacquiao surprisingly overlooked the Mexican great when revealing the biggest puncher he has faced in a feature with The Ring Magazine from 2015, naming none other than Miguel Cotto.
“Miguel Cotto: I can still feel some of those punches he threw at me. Staying on the ropes is not the best place to be when you are fighting him. He’s also accurate. He’s incredible.”
Pacquiao faced Cotto on just one occasion during his career, stopping him in the 12th and final round of their showdown back in November 2009 to capture the WBO world welterweight title.
Despite suffering a handful of losses during his own tenure, Cotto is widely considered to be one of the greatest Puerto Rican fighters of all time, winning multiple world titles in four weight classes before his retirement in 2017.
