LOS ANGELES – Manny Pacquiao considers his victory over Oscar dela Hoya as the best of them all – bar none.
“Ito na ang pinakamasaya (This one’s the happiest),” said the Filipino pound-for-pound champion who cemented his very lofty status by scoring an eighth-round TKO win in their “Dream Match” bout last Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. (Related stories on A-33)
Pacquiao had been in some many great battles, 53 fights (48-3-2) as a pro, but said nothing compares to this one which he considered the biggest fight of his life.
He ranked his top five fights.
“Ranked second is the (Marco Antonio) Barrera fight,” he said, referring to his 2003 showdown with the “Baby-Faced Assassin” whom he knocked out in the 11th round in San Antonio, Texas. He was a 4-1 underdog in that fight.
“And next to that at number three is the (Lehlo) Ledwaba fight,” he said.
The fight against the South African opened the doors to his greatness. He was a last minute replacement for Enrique Sanchez, and didn’t waste time to introduce himself to the world by scoring a sensational sixth-round stoppage.
Larry Merchant, the great boxing commentator, said after that fight that he didn’t know anything about Pacquiao, and added, “but now I want to see more of him.”
And he did.
Pacquiao said at No. 4 is his 10th round victory over Erik Morales in January of 2006, one that avenged his bitter and bloody loss to the Tijuana superstar a year ago. Rounding up the top five for Pacquiao is his second KO win over Morales in November of 2006.
“Pero walang ka-rate ito (But nothing comes close to this),” he said, again looking back to the Dela Hoya fight where he was the underdog.
“Even the commentator of ESPN apologized to me for saying that this fight was going to be a mismatch. What they didn’t know was that the mismatch was on my favor,” said Pacquiao.
“More people believed in Dela Hoya. Even Wakee Salud (his adviser) kept on saying it would be very difficult to win. But I told him to relax, and I will prove him wrong.”
“To me this is unbelievable – fighting in three different weight divisions in one year. I don’t think it has even been done before,” he said.
Pacquiao defeated Juan Manuel Marquez last March to win the WBC super-featherweight (130 lbs) crown, then returned to the ring last June to crush David Diaz for the WBC lightweight (135 lbs) title.
By beating Dela Hoya in their welterweight (147 lbs) contest, Pacquiao erased any other doubt that he is the world’s greatest fighter today.
“I think I’m part of history now,” he said.
“He’s just getting better and better every time. And I’m so proud of him. This makes me Trainer of the Year, and him Fighter of the Year,” Roach added.