Manny Pacquiao's Case for the Greatest of All Time
By Ace Freeman
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 30 Jun 2025
GOAT.
Greatest of all time.
Let’s talk about that term to start things off. Like many things in this day and age, the aforementioned term has become watered down and has been largely stripped of its true meaning in the sporting lexicon.
“Yo… he’s the next up and coming GOAT, bro”
“I’m the young GOAT!”
“Jake Paul’s the GOAT, baby!”
The term Greatest of all Time was largely popularized by Muhammad Ali. Fun fact, Ali actually trademarked the term and it remains intellectual property of his namesake and estate to this day.
But in terms of present day, the term gets thrown around a lot, especially in boxing.
Throughout most of the last half century, boxing purists, pundits and authors have largely regarded Sugar Ray Robinson as the consensus greatest boxer of all time. His well rounded perfection of all physical aspects coupled with his storied career makes this a very sound contention
… and contention is really it’s all about.
Regarding a fighter as the greatest to ever box is a subjective notion. This means there truly is no right answer. There is no panel that decides this… it’s simply a matter of opinion.
The opinion that Ray Robinson is the greatest boxer in history is a sound argument. You might disagree with it, but anyone putting forth that opinion can make a well reasoned case (as they’ve done for almost 80 years).
That brings us to the topic of today’s piece: I believe a credible case can be made that Manny Pacquiao is the greatest boxer ever.
I bring this up 31+ years from when he turned professional at 108 pounds… as he now sits just two weeks away from once again being the center of attention in the boxing world on July 19 when he’ll face yet another young lion in Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight title at 46 years old.
This comes after him having won titles in a staggering eight divisions (108 lbs to 154 lbs).
Lineal champion (universally recognized as being the man who beat the man who beat the man…) in an unprecedented four divisions.
Held a world title in four different decades.
Above and beyond all of that… he’s ready to do what he’s always done on July 19th: wanting to fight.
Despite his accolades, Pacquiao captured global sporting attention because of the fire that burned in his belly to fight with ferocious intensity. Many will be quick to point out that the number one objective in boxing is to hit without being hit. That is 100% true and most apt when you’re an actual fighter. But for fans and every other non-participant in boxing, it’s the fire that we all desire. Nothing brings fans to their feet and shoots their heart up into their throat more than a high drama battle of wills. From movies made about two fighters testing each other’s resolve in an absolute slugfest to the live fever of excitement in seeing a Hagler-Hearns or Gatti-Ward battle unfold.
Pacquiao has a sound case on paper for his accolades alone… but it’s his fire and desire to fight that’s propelled him to historic greatness.
Think back to his biggest moments.
Just minutes before the ring walk cameras cut to his dressing room where the Philippines’ national anthem blared out into the arena and into homes across the globe while thunderous punches to coach Freddie Roach’s pads exploded to underline the notes. When it pans up to Manny’s face we see the biggest of child-like smiles. In those biggest moments… ones where he continuously faced the danger of bigger and better opponents leaving him at a tremendous size disadvantage… his disposition was that of an over-excited dog who’s doing laps around the living room waiting for it’s owner to take him for a walk.
I asked Manny in one of our many interviews during the prime of his career “Something I’ve always wanted to ask you about is how happy you seem in the dressing room right before your ring walk… most fighters are quite serious but you always have the biggest smile. Do you ever get nervous?”
His eyes lit up and his eyebrows twitched.
“Nervous??? I don’t get nervous!" he quipped, legitimately thinking it was an odd question. "I’m excited!”
The late veteran Filipino reporter Ronnie Nathanielsz once explained to me on this topic: “I’ve known him since he was a novice… it’s true. He genuinely LOVES fighting that much!”
It’s this lust for combat really underlines his case. Division after division he entered each fight with his biggest opponent to date with the sole intention of planting his feet and landing nine punch combinations of absolute wrecking balls. While this always came with great risk (the bigger and stronger the opponent, the bigger the risk when he puts himself in harms way pressing the fight) he always opted for the drama and excitement of trying to physically best his opponent. He wanted to hit you harder than you could hit him.
This was never better illustrated to me than one of the times I watched Manny train at Hollywood’s famed Wild Card Boxing Club right around the tail end of his physical prime. It was back when former middleweight champion and emerging terror Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin was rising to stardom for his terminator like run savaging challenger after challenger at 160 pounds.
“Manny… they want Golovkin next!” one of the members of his entourage yelled from the sidelines.
“Triple G???” Manny quipped back after momentarily disengaging from his constant bouncing, his brow arched while grinning from ear to ear.
“Triple G toe to toe???” he said amping up his own excitement level.
“Bang bang bang bang bang bang!!!” He exclaimed as he sliced a snapping nine punch combination through the air with a look of glee in his eyes.
While I don’t think this was seriously ever in consideration, it was clear from the honest and genuine reaction in the moment that the notion of going toe to toe with a massive and dangerous Gennady Golovkin was an exciting one to Manny.
That’s the fighting spirit. He WANTED to fight. He wanted it for himself… and he knew full well it was what “made the people happy”.
This borderline obsession with testing himself against greater and greater heights is what truly sets him apart.
Even now we’re just weeks away from watching him - as an old man - ready to step into the lion’s den with a young dangerous world champion much physically bigger and stronger than he is.
I myself am a 46 year old man, and I can tell you I get out of bed every morning and something hurts. It would be like me going to down to a local college and challenging someone on the football team to a fight. That is a scary thought for me.
Not for Manny. His eyes light up when reporters ask him why he’s doing it.
“It’s my job… to give a good fight, to make the people happy”. This was his mantra all through out his storied career.
Reaching to see where it might finally exceed his grasp.
"A man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?" - Robert Browning
It’s this steadfast disposition that has brought him reverence across the boxing world.
He is truly revered among his boxing peers. I can tell you from having seen it first hand throughout his career.
I was in Las Vegas’s famed Mayweather Boxing Club in 2009 when I got an alert on my phone that Pacquiao had signed to fight Miguel Cotto. I was standing speaking with the late, great Roger Mayweather when I got the news.
“Pacquiao fighting Cotto?” Roger said with a sly, surveying look while chewing on a piece of gum like he was mad at it. He paused and thought about it for a long moment.
“That little dude’s got some serious balls,” he said in mild disbelief.
I was also there in 2021 when news broke a 42 year old Pacquiao had signed on to face prime and then-undefeated Errol Spence Jr.
An audience that included the likes of Buddy McGirt and Stitch Duran let out a “ppppppssshhh” of disbelief as the news spread throughout a stunned gym of fighters and trainers.
The boxing world collectively knows Manny Pacquiao is cut from a different cloth.
You need look no further than rival trainers like Robert Garcia who will drone on praising and making sure you understand how special a fighter he is at great lengths whenever he’s brought up.
I think this is a massive consideration for his case as the greatest when combined with his absolutely historic achievements on paper. It’s extremely unlikely we ever see someone traverse eight weight classes again with the way fighters seem to become more protected in this day and age with egos making bigger fights more and more difficult to make.
With that, though, I’d like to preemptively address those who might be reading this - foaming at the mouth angry I could suggest Manny Pacquiao is the greatest fighter ever. Keep in mind the intention of this piece isn’t a personal proclamation, rather a spotlight on Pacquiao’s credible case for such distinction.
“But he had EIGHT losses! LOLz” - Random angry guy from Texas
Sugar Ray Robinson had 19 losses. Muhammad Ali lost 5 times.
There is no shame in losing when it comes to sports. In almost every other sport losses occur all the time…. but it’s the heights of the victories that are remembered when determining greatness. In American football, Tom Brady had as just about as many Super Bowl losses (and was 0-2 vs. rival Eli Manning) as anyone in history… but it’s the historic and numerous victories that people remember most.
While Pacquiao lost eight times in his career (a few robberies not withstanding) he always continued on unscathed with the same desire to fight.
Almost every other fighter considered to be one of the all time greats came up short at times, many in emphatic fashion. Pacquiao’s dramatic knockout loss to rival Juan Manuel Marquez came at time he was throwing caution to the wind looking to finish the battle and was not unlike the legendary Roberto Duran getting face-planted by fellow great Tommy Hearns. Great fighters have bad nights…. but it’s their ability to rebound from adversity and continue achieving that separates them.
“Floyd Mayweather is the GOAT, he beat Manny and is undefeated!” - Random angry guy from Atlanta
His entire career Pacquiao’s name has been linked to Mayweather Jr… and I will say unequivocally for the purpose of this exercise - I believe you can also make a credible case that Floyd Mayweather is the greatest boxer ever. This is a grounded opinion, and a strong case can be made. Mayweather was a different fighter from Manny with a different path. He conducted his flawless career inside the ring the same way he did outside it in his decisions of when to fight and when not to. He conducted himself at all times with great risk analysis. One of the smartest fighters to ever put on a set of gloves, Floyd operated inside the ring with a surgeon’s precision and was the epitome of boxing’s divine rule of hitting without getting hit. This translated to a flawless record (retiring undefeated) and had the added advantage of having finished his career in perfect health as well as being the most historic money earner in boxing history. In a sport full of crooks and thugs, Mayweather navigated his career around arch-villain promoters at every turn like a grand chess master. While he did defeat Pacquiao when they finally met (years past their best before dates) it was a lackluster affair against an injured Pacquiao clearly not at is best.
So yes, you can make a case for Floyd as “TBE” (trademark: The Best Ever)… and it’s a sound and fair opinion.
“Some people ask… who is the greatest of all time?” Manny Pacquiao said at his Hall of Fame induction ceremony just weeks ago.
“It’s not for me to decide,” he went on. “That question belongs to the fans. It belongs to history. I never chased greatness… I just tried to be better than the Manny Pacquiao I was yesterday. I never picked the easy fights. I choose the hard ones. I moved up weight class after weight class not to protect a record… but to test my limits. But now when I look back… titles in eight divisions… champion in four different decades… oldest welterweight champion in history… those are not just opinions. Those are facts.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself. 🐐
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ace Freeman.
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