Manny Pacquiao has shared the ring with some of the best fighters of all time.
From Floyd Mayweather to Oscar De La Hoya, whom he retired in 2008, and even British boxing legend Ricky Hatton, Pacquiao has fought them all and beaten most of them.
But, the punching power of one fighter proved ‘too much’ for ‘Pac Man’ and that came in his 2010 clash with Antonio Margarito.
Going into the fight, Pacquiao was on top of the world having knocked out Hatton in spectacular fashion a year prior.
Pacquiao beat Margarito by unanimous decision to win the vacant WBC super welterweight world title.
But, speaking about the contest to Marca, he revealed: “Big and strong is an understatement.
“His body shots hurt me several times throughout our fight.”
Pacquiao continued: “His punch is different. It was surprising that I survived that fight.
“I could take the punches, I could take the blows, but after the fight I could feel something, it was too much for me.”
After this fight, Pacquiao moved back down to welterweight, clearly realising that the power behind a 154lb fighter was not something he wanted to experience again.
It was his last fight at the weight before the end of his career, but he still went on to achieve huge things at 147lbs.
He beat Shane Mosley six months later to pick up an immediate WBO world title, before falling to a fourth career defeat against Timothy Bradley.
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His poor run threatened to continue as he lost to Juan Manuel Marquez, but avenged his defeat to Timothy Bradley two years later in April 2014.
And he would then take on Mayweather in ‘The Fight of the Century’, which transpired to be the highest grossing boxing bout in history.
The pair sold 4.6 millions pay-per-views and generated $410 million in revenue, as Mayweather won by unanimous decision to maintain his unbeaten record.
Despite falling to defeat against his fellow great in the biggest pay-per-view fight ever, Pacquiao went on to continue fighting beating Timothy Bradley for a second time as well as Jessie Vargas.
The talented operator then succumbed to defeat in a stunning upset against Jeff Horn in Australia, but bounced back with wins over the likes of Adrien Broner and Keith Thurman.
His glorious career that saw him become a champion in eight divisions ended in 2021 when, at 42, he was upset by Yordenis Ugas in Las Vegas.
But he has since elected to make comeback after his political career came to a standstill, having fought and beaten DK Yoo in an exhibition clash in 2022.
The 45-year-old is even in talks to make a full comeback against Mario Barrios, in a stunning world title shot.
In the meantime, he will fight in a bizarre three-round exhibition, but irrespective of what happens next Pacquiao will go down as an all-time great.
Mayweather went on to big things after beating his bitter rival, beating Andre Berto in his penultimate career showdown.
But the clash that brought down a curtain on his career came against UFC superstar Conor McGregor, who he beat in a titanic revenue-generating tussle to move to 50-0 as a professional.
The event ranked only second in pay-per-view units sold and revenue to his fight with Pacquiao, pocketing a reported $300 million after the event was watched by 4.3 million people.
He retired with his record in tact, but has since returned multiple times in exhibition clashes.
In the most high-profile of his entertainment bouts, he battled YouTube star Logan Paul in 2021, which ended with no result.
But he is earning huge purses for his outings, and has announced his latest fight is a rematch with previous exhibition rival John Gotti III.
Margarito himself went on to fight four times before the end of his career, losing in 2011 to Miguel Cotto.
But he responded in sensational fashion, making a comeback in 2016 to fight three more times which all ended in wins in his native Mexico.
He admitted his body was unable to cope with the strain of the sport, and finally turned his back on the sport for good that year.
