I first caught a glimpse of Manny Pacquiao in June of 2001 when he came in as a replacement to challenge Lehlohonolo Ledwaba for the IBF Super Bantamweight title at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. At the time Ledwaba was coming off of an HBO televised showing against rugged journeyman Carlos Contreras and was perceived as a champion with a bright future ahead of him. Unfortunately for Ledwaba, Pacquiao would go on to play the role of spoiler on that Vegas night as he steamrolled the South African over six one-sided rounds on his way towards claiming the IBF belt.

Displaying great tenacity and power from an unorthodox southpaw stance, Pacquiao left quite the impression and he quickly became a champion worth watching. After an unfortunate technical draw against Agapito Sanchez, Pacquiao would go on to reel off for successive knockout victories, setting up a November 2003 showdown with the great Marco Antonio Barrera. Barrera himself had been riding a career rejuvenation that stemmed from his February 2000 classic with Erik Morales and the proud Mexican was seen as being a serious test in Pacquiao’s young career.

Moving up in weight against a hall of fame caliber opponent, Pacquiao would go on to give a shocking performance. After dropping Barrera early in the fight, Pacquiao would go on to batter his older foe round after round, resulting in an 11th round stoppage. The result was eye-opening as Pacquiao confirmed just how capable he was of performing on the big stage and the boxing world took notice. Displaying a rare combination of severe power, speed, and fluidity, Pacquiao was a force to be reckon ed with and some felt he was at an unstoppable at this point in his career. Pacquiao was indeed at a career high but in the following years a few fights would end up raising serious questions about Pacquiao’s abilities as a fighter in the eyes of some.

Following the Barrera fight Pacquiao would meet dangerous Mexican technician Juan Manuel Marquez in yet another high profile affair. Pacquiao would storm Marquez early, dropping him three times in the first round, resulting in a riveting 180 seconds of fury. But from that point on the fight began to change and Marquez’ true class as a fighter rose to the surface. Marquez would regain his composure and begin using his greatest assets, his counterpunching skills and precise punching, to turn the fight around. The final tally would result in a controversial draw which left some labeling Pacquiao as ‘one-dimensional’ and unable to adapt.

Less than a year later, in March of 2005, Pacquiao again rose in weight to challenge the very formidable Erik ‘El Terrible’ Morales. The Tijuana native was coming off of a bitter majority decision loss to his rival Barrera just months prior and was looked at as damaged goods by some but he had a few tricks left up sleeve. Over the course of twelve wildly entertaining rounds, Morales and Pacquiao traded both shots and shifts of momentum in the fight. At the end of the day Morales’ great chin and his ability to adapt to Pacquiao’s attack lead him to a close but clear decision win. While Morales basked in the glory, Pacquiao was left with many question marks surrounding his future.
It was undeniable that Pacquiao was a ball of fire and that he could be competitive with just about anyone near his weight class, but when pitted against Marquez and Morales, Pacquiao seemed to showed some limitations regarding his method of attack. Some people in the industry felt that Pacquiao had reached his ceiling as a fighter and that there wouldn’t be much room for him to grow, but all Pacquiao has done in that time is show the boxing world that along with his power he also has much versatility as a fighter.

Since that loss to Morales, Pacquiao has gone 10-0 with 7 knockouts while registering wins against a who’s who of competition. In that time frame Pacquiao has gone 4-0 against the likes of Morales, Barrera, and Marquez in return bouts while also busting up David Diaz in his Lightweight debut and following that up with an improbable domination of Oscar De La Hoya this past December. Along the way Pacquiao has shown an improved offensive array and a greater ring I.Q. as well. He has also shown the amazing ability to carry his power up in weight, something that isn’t too common in the sport of boxing. For as great as Pacquiao was during that span, just this past weekend another serious test awaited him in the form of Britain’s Ricky Hatton.

Coming into the ring with 45-1 record with 32 knockouts, with the lone loss being to Floyd Mayweather Jr., Hatton’s superior size and presumed advantage in strength were seen as serious warning signs to those backing the Filipino sensation. While his victory over De La Hoya was amazing in more ways than one, Hatton was a fresher fighter with a bruising style and some wondered if Pacquiao would be able to overcome such an obstacle.

Fighting in Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Arena for the 5th time in his life this past Saturday night, Pacquiao not only reminded everyone why he is the best fighter in the world, he did so in such a devastating manner that even his most ardent of followers couldn’t have predicted.

The fight was looked at as a matchup of Pacquiao’s whirlwind style against Hatton’s rugged attack, but when everything unfolded the contest came across as more of a mismatch that anything else. With the first punches that he landed in the first round, Pacquiao began having an instant effect on Hatton and a knockdown from a right hook followed later in the round. Hatton tasted canvas one more time before the round was over and went back to his corner confused and in serious trouble.

Hatton did attempt to work his way back into the fight in the following stanza but it was only a matter of time. Pacquiao again started landing sharp punches that backed his foe up and just seconds before the round ended he iced Hatton with a beautiful left hand shot. Hatton was out before he hit the canvas and referee Kenny Bayless didn’t even bother to count to ten. Hatton was done for and Pacquiao had produced an amazing encore performance to his De La Hoya massacre.

Much has been talked about in the aftermath of the bout, from Pacquiao’s overall standing alongside the sport’s greatest fighters to a potential fight down the road against a comebacking Floyd Mayweather. Either way, there will always be much to discuss when the topic of Manny Pacquiao is raised, but no longer can the subject at hand be his supposed ‘one-dimensional’ style of his as a fighter. Those days are long gone and they have instead been replaced with striking images of a fighter who is still evolving as a fighter and willing to face any and all comers in front of him. Manny Pacquiao continues to leave his mark on the sport and I for one can’t wait to see what his next statement is going to be…