One of the most popular athletes in the last two decades has decided to call it quits. After a legendary and unprecedented career, Filipino boxing icon Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao has finally and officially retired from boxing. This follows a final bout in which the 42-year-old legend failed to snatch the WBA welterweight title from Yordenis Ugas, on August 21 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
As the only eight-division world champion in boxing history, Pacquiao has had plenty of memorable fights and has amassed life-changing earnings along the way. Let’s take a look back at his incredible career.
Born in poverty
As most fans know by now, Pacquiao hails from General Santos City in the southern Philippines where he lived a life of poverty during his childhood. Driven by a will to provide a better life for his family, he started professional fighting at only age 16. He went on to fight as much as he could, earning as little as US$2 per win in the early days.
His grit, coupled with supernatural speed and power slowly took him up the local boxing ranks. His first big break came in December 1998 when he won the WBC flyweight title against Thai champ Chatchai Sasakul.
Legendary fights and earnings
From then on, he stormed through the weight classes, setting box office records which brought him riches he never would’ve imagined.
His top-tier pay cheques started with his fight against boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya in 2008. Although younger, Pacquiao was significantly shorter, lighter and smaller than De La Hoya. Still, he destroyed him, boosting his reputation even more.
The De La Hoya fight netted Pacquiao US$11 million, moving him into the seven-figure bracket for the first time. He made US$12 million for the Ricky Hatton fight in 2009, then US$35 million to fight Miguel Cotto in 2010, both of which Pacquiao won in exciting fashion. He then bagged another US$35 million for annihilating Antonio Margarito, also in 2010, claiming him an eighth world title in as many divisions, the first fighter to achieve that feat.
He made US$20-30 million-per-fight when he fought Juan Manuel Marquez twice (2011 and 2012) and Brandon Rios once (2013). By now, Pacquiao was also sought-after for endorsements, nabbing lucrative deals with global brands like Nike, Hewlett-Packard, McDonald’s and San Miguel beer to name a few.
But all this pales in comparison to what Pacquiao earned when he fought fellow boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather Jnr in 2015. The fight, which generated an astounding 4.6 million pay-per-view buys in the US alone, netted Pac-Man a staggering US$130 million in one night.
All in all, Pacquiao retires as one of the richest athletes in the world, with Forbes placing him eighth on its list of highest-earning athletes of the decade with an estimated total of US$435 million from his 25 pay-per-view fights.
What’s next
Even before hanging up his gloves, Pacquiao had already dabbled in politics, having been elected first as a congressman, then a senator. And now, less than a week after retiring, he filed his formal candidacy to be the next president of the Philippines.
Will Pacquiao be as successful in the political arena as he was in the boxing ring? Time will tell. But one thing’s for sure: he will always be remembered as one of the greatest boxers who ever lived.
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