Pacquiao: Six of the best

We pick out half-a-dozen of Manny Pacquiao's finest performances. See if you agree...

Filipino's finest moments remembered...

Manny Pacquiao's record boast 53 fights, world titles at four different weights and reads like a who's who of boxing. Oscar de la Hoya, Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez have all been beaten by the man many people regard as the best on the planet. And the majority of those fights have been worthy of the very best in boxing; the three with Morales, two apiece with Barrera and Marquez and probably the display of 2008 against the Golden Boy. Fight fans will split over which performance is Pacquiao's finest, so skysports.com's Tim Hobbs has picked six Pacquiao performances that stand out for him. It might be for the action itself, for the finish, or for the stature, but here are half-a-dozen of the Filipino's finest. See if you agree and let us know your favourite Pac Man fight by filling in the feedback form at the foot of the page...

Oscar de la Hoya
Won - Rtd 8. Dec 6,2008

The boxing performance of 2008 and the one that put the Filipino at the peak of the pound-for-pound ratings - and gave Hatton this pot-shot. Size was supposed to matter and with Oscar moving down from light-middle and Pac Man up from lightweight, the kind of met in the middle at welter. The Golden Boy looked great on the scales and all of a sudden it looked like Pacquiao had bitten off more than he could chew, like Freddie Roach was for once wide of the mark. Pacquiao's trainer had maintained that de la Hoya was a busted flush that could not get his shots off and that he had the perfect plan to topple him. Within two rounds it was clear Roach was right all along. Pacquiao buzzed about his man, in and out, leading with the left and landing almost every time. By the seventh round de la Hoya's left eye was swollen to the point of closing and as the eighth got underway the Golden Boy's shine was visibly fading in front of a stunned MGM Grand - and global audience. It was all he could do to see Pacquiao coming, never mind set a trap or stop him, and referee Tony Weeks was simply stating the obvious when he warned him that the fight would be called off if he continued to absorb such wretched punishment. He was pre-empting what was to come at the end of the round as de la Hoya's corner called it quits, leaving the boxing world stunned, Roach right and Pacquiao proudly the best boxer on the planet.

Erik Morales
Won KO 3. Nov 18 2006

Possibly the most furious three rounds of Pac Man's frenetic career and the win that suddenly had people comparing him to Floyd Mayweather Jr in pound-for-pound terms. True, Morales had lost three of his last four but the one win in there had come in his first meeting with the Filipino. He was blown away in the rematch but talk of the three-weight world champion was premature - at least for three seconds shy of nine minutes. With the trilogy in the balance, Pacquiao came blasting out of out the blocks in front of a sell-out capacity at the Thomas and Mack. He couldn't miss with the left but it was a countering right hook that wobbled the Mexican badly midway through the first. In the second it exploded into life, Morales realising all he could do was fight fire with fire and opening up as often as Pacquiao. It proved to be his downfall though, because it was as he was coming forward a left hook caught him flush on the ear and floored him for the fourth time in his career, having done it for the first, second and third times in their previous meetings. The second round brought more of the same and after one of several clattering exchanges, Pacquiao looked to be in trouble but backed his man up across the ring before the left hook did the business again. Morales made the count and manfully flailed away in search of the one-punch finish before eventually being toppled for the third and final time as nine minutes of mayhem finally took their toll. Pacquiao at his whirlwind best.

Marco Antonio Barrera
Won - Tko 11. Nov 15 2003

Naseem Hamed, Erik Morales, Johnny Tapia and Kevin Kelley had all been soundly beaten yet somehow, Barrera's first meeting with Pacquiao was relegated to the boxing backwater of San Antonio in Texas - but, someome knew something because it took place at the Alamodome. The odds favoured Mexico again, but history was to repeat itself as Pacquiao moved up to a new level. It took him a round to settle but by the second he was into his rhythm and Barrera was in range and he pretty much stayed their all night. Trapped on the ropes in the third, the Baby Faced Assassin took a barrage of left-right combinations and Pacquiao's pump-action fists set to work. Swelling soon appeared around the left eye - a cut would follow - and soon enough a booming left hook saw Barrera go down for only third time in 60 fights. It set the pattern for the rest of the fight, only Barrera's pride and years of experience kept him on his feet. There was no stemming the flow of blows though and Pacquiao, as light on his feet as we've seen him, skipped around his man darting in and out behind devastating combinations. It was all the Mexican could do to muster the odd hook to the body in response yet somehow he held on until the 11th until finally succumbing after yet another spell soaking it up on the ropes. His corner stepped in four seconds from the end but really could've done it any time over the last four rounds.

Juan-Manuel Marquez
Won - SD 12. Mar 15 2008

decision that still splits the boxing world down the middle but a display that proved the Pac Man's point. He had faded in their first fight after having the Mexican down three times in the first and plenty of people thought a draw did the Filipino too many favours. True to themselves, both men jumped at a rematch and again Pacquiao set off at pace, flooring Marquez with a flash left hook at the end of the third. Marquez, as is his wont, responded and had some success with the straight right soon after, but it was still Pac Man's lethal left that was likeliest to bring about an early finish. A cut over Marquez's right eye in the fifth, worsened by a clash of heads in the seventh, didn't sway the fight completely in the Filipino's favour, although he continued to play the aggressor. A confident and composed Pacquiao set a pace that was as blistering as their first fight. In the end though, it was the knockdown that tipped the decision his way and even the staunchest of Marquez fans cannot deny that for pressing the issue alone, Pacquiao was value for the win - however narrow. The subject of a third fight is never far away when either fighter is about but Pac Man insists the win closed the matter, while also confirming his status as boxing Mexican killer, sending Marquez the same way as Morales and Barrera before him.

David Diaz
Won - KO 9. Jun 28 2008

He might not have been the toughest of the Diaz trio at 135lbs but he had just retired Erik Morales - adding the finishing touches to Pacquiao's demolition job - and had the size advantage. Pac Man was jumping up at lightweight for the first time against a world champion who had not lost in three years. Well Diaz's reputation and face were soon left in shreds as Pacquiao proved - not for the last time - that his is not the speed that gets left behind the further up the weight ladder he goes. This time it was the right that did the early damage rocking Diaz in double quick time and soon opening up a nasty gash above his right eye. As the blood began to flow heavily the man from Chicago saw red and engaged in some ferocious exchanges in the fourth, but was continually beaten to the punch by a Pacquiao warming to the task with every passing minute. His cutman deserves the most credit for keeping his man in the fight, but he was there in the loosest sense of the word, with left-right combinations all crunching home. At one stage in the sixth, Pacquiao landed 12 scoring blows in a row, all unanswered and all on the money. Now a sitting target, his white trunks stained pink with blood, Diaz was little more than a combo dummy which Pacquiao took great delight in destroying. When the finish came, it was with a sense of relief for the beaten man, although so quick and clinical was the stiff right jab followed by a checked left hook that few saw it land, least of all the one-eyed Diaz.

Lehlohonolo Ledwaba
Won - TKO 6. Jun 23 2001

Not the stellar names that have occupied his slate over the past six years but a seminal fight - and performance - for the Pac Man. The South African's only ventures outside of his homeland had been two undercard appearances in England, but he still had some decent domestic names on his record and was making the fifth defence of his IBF super-bantamweight belt on the MGM Grand bill that saw de la Hoya defeat Javier Castillejo. For Pacquiao it was a first Vegas appearance and he took to his surroundings instantly, flooring the champion inside the first with a left that blooded his nose - and warned America what they were in for. Pacquiao did not let up and poured forward again, landing combinations as he pleased and putting his man down again midway through the second. That Ledwaba survived was a testimony to his durability and at least gave the crowd more action than they had probably been expecting. He took it four more rounds before Pacquiao stepped back on the gas again and decided to finish it, scoring two more knockdowns in the sixth forcing the referee to step in and declare the Filipino world champion at 122lbs for the first time. Which Pacquiao performance do you rate as his best yet? Let us know YOUR VIEW by filling in the feedback form below...