Manny Pacquiao's Top 5 Greatest Matches: The Most Expensive Match in History

Manny's Top 5 Greatest Matches Pacquiao: The most expensive match in history

The fight with Floyd Mayweather, who could launch the Filipino into space

It's no secret that Manny Pacquiao is the most successful welterweight boxer not only of the 21st century, but, why not, of all time. However, the Filipino has managed to win world titles in seven more divisions, making him unique in his achievement. In several parts, we bring you the best PacMan matches, and all that remains is to talk about the fight that no boxing fan will not remember. Unfortunately for Manny, it's a match he couldn't win, otherwise he might have been considered by even more people as the greatest in the history of the sport.

It is about the meeting with Floyd Mayweather Jr., played on May 2nd, 2015 in, perhaps, Pacquiao's favorite venue, the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight pits two highly successful boxers who are fighting for a total of four belts. Mayweather enters the fight undefeated in the professional ring in 47 fights, 26 of which he won by knockout. He holds the WBA, WBC and Ring magazine world titles in both the welterweight and super welterweight divisions. He is also ranked number one in the divisions according to The Ring. Pacquiao is only in third place in this ranking, but he still holds a title that Floyd wants to have in his asset. The one in the welterweight category of the World Boxing Organization.

Six years later, with both men refusing to fight each other several times before 2009, it's time for the rivalry to take place in the ring, not just in the media and in the arguments between the boxers' supporters. The two enter the match with almost the same weight, the 38-year-old American boxer has a slight advantage, but in terms of height, he gains as much as 7 centimeters. Something that shouldn't seriously worry Pacquiao.

Right from the start, both are extremely aggressive, which is not typical of Mayweather. Pacquiao tried to score more points, looking for shots to the body of his opponent, but the American countered extremely successfully and won the first round according to the three judges. The second part develops almost identically, but now Mayweather is calmer and only tries to avoid his opponent's blows. Something that works out perfectly for him according to the judges who again give the edge for him.

The third round is also the first to be more exciting as Pacquiao lands a low body kick that the Filipino thinks is unfair, and then the two exchange quite a few accurate shots to electrify the crowd. Mayweather is victorious again, then just starts running away from the Filipino boxer and waits for his moment. This time it doesn't work anymore and it's time for Pacquiao to start and he gets back into the match after he manages to find Mayweather with a nice left straight and ram him into the ropes. However, the American recovered quickly and successfully started the fifth part, in which again Pacquiao's punches were not received, at least not as strong and effective. At the end of the round, Floyd turned up the heat to get the judges on his side again.

The Filipino has no other way out, trailing by 1:4 round to continue his aggression, to press his opponent to the ropes again, but this time his combinations are not bad at all to regain his hopes of victory on points. In practice, after the meeting was cut in half, the score was 58:56 in favor of Mayweather.

Logically, a change of tactics followed by the American, who became more aggressive in the seventh round. He manages to land two left straights and a right hook and withstand Pacquiao's counter. The eighth is similar as straight punches keep Manny at bay and he can't react to the more aggressive Mayweather. Despite Pacquiao's strong finish, the round is once again at the expense of his opponent. Knowing that he didn't have much time and chances left, the Filipino started attacking again in round number nine. Both boxers exchange quite heavy blows to the delight of the fans. Here the judges split the points, but Pacquiao still narrowly wins according to two of them.

The tenth part also ended with success for the Filipino according to two of the referees, but even after it, Mayweather had an advantage of 96:94 in two of the cards, and according to the third judge, it was 98:92 for the American. Two more exciting rounds await us, in the first of which Floyd is fresher. Pacquiao again tries more punches, but they once again fail, and although he is pushed into a corner, Mayweather manages to find his opponent's chin, meaning the end is nigh. In the last round, only a knockout can save Pacquiao from defeat, and he is aware of this, taking maximum risks, while Floyd simply avoids his blows, running around the ring and counterattacking successfully.

After the final gong, the score was clearly in Mayweather's favor and the three judges' cards showed it. A unanimous decision victory also brings the last title that is missing from the American's showcase. However, Pacquiao is of the opinion that the judges were wrong and he should have won the fight. Still, Mayweather's words after the match showed that he respects his opponent, who has had his very good moments, as he is among the classiest. Pacquiao, on the other hand, continues to feel that he landed more accurate shots and the fact that Floyd kept running away from him prevented him from looking more convincing.

One thing is clear, the match between the two is one of the greatest in all of boxing history, the greatest involving Pacquiao, although not won by the Filipino, and certainly the greatest of this century. It is not by chance that experts call it the "battle of the century".