ESPN hails Manny Pacquiao as no. 1 Asian athlete of the 21st Century

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Media organization ESPN recently ranked Manny Pacquiao as the top Asian athlete of the 21st Century on July 25, 2024.

After earning the distinction as boxing’s only eight-division world champion and the oldest to ever wear the championship belt of the welterweight division, ESPN put Pacquaio as no. 1 in the list, overtaking China’s basketball legend Yao Ming and other Asian greats.

According to ESPN, Pacquiao is “arguably one of the greatest boxers of all time” and dominated the sport for three decades.

“Pacquiao’s remarkable achievements and impact on boxing highlight his extraordinary legacy and has now stemmed into a career in politics and as an executive in various sports,” ESPN published in its article.

Three years ago, Pacquiao officially hung up his gloves, leaving the sport of boxing as one of the most exciting fighters to ever set foot inside the ring.

At the age of 14, Pacquiao already began his search for boxing success after joining several boxing tournaments in hopes of sustaining his family’s needs.

Little did the world know that the young and enthusiastic boxer would dominate the sport, capturing his first-ever championship title in 1998 when he defeated Thailand’s Chatchai Sasakul for the World Boxing Council (WBC) flyweight belt.

However, the biggest break in his professional boxing career came three years after when he stepped up as a late replacement against former International Boxing Federation (IBF) super bantamaweight champion Lehlohonolo Ledwaba.

Despite accepting the title fight on two weeks’ notice, Pacquiao completed a stunning upset on Ledwaba after scoring a technical knockout victory to clinch his second major championship belt.

The Filipino boxing superstar capped off his illustrious career with several huge wins over Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales, Oscar Larios, Jorge Solis, David Diaz, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, Joshua Clottey, Antonio Margarito, Shane Mosley, Tim Bradley, Brandon Rios, Chris Algieri, Adrien Broner, and Keith Thurman.

He is the only man in boxing to win multiple belts in eight different divisions, welterweight, featherweight, junior welterweight, junior middleweight, junior featherweight, lightweight, flyweight, and junior lightweight.

“He won world titles in an unprecedented eight weight divisions, showcasing his versatility and dominance. Pacquiao’s career spanned over three decades, during which he defeated numerous boxing legends,” ESPN added.