who were the best fighters pacman beat pre 2003?

Lehonolo Ledwaba and Chachai Sasakul... Maybe Lucero but that's just because the knockout was so impressive.

 

I like pac ...but lets be real...all his best wins are against old fighters that had seen better days, except for marquez who i thought he beat the first time but lost to the 2nd.

 

i thought MAB was still in his prime in their first fight. regarding his opponents, aside from Joan Guzman, who else is the top dog that Pac didn't fight before? those 3 Mexicans, even if they are faded, are still the best in their weight class.

 

delete

 

Thats a valid point, but what does it say for a weight class when the supposed best are old war torn fighters ? Good wins , not great.

 

I've followed his career since the start, and I have to admit that he didnt have a lotta of "big name" opponents when he was at 106, 112 and 122 lbs.

But I assure you that all of those fights that he had were career defining fights.

In my eyes, this scrawny 112 pounder was just a very brave and exciting club fighter. Very active and game, with very good power and heart.

It seemed that everyone he fought was much better than him technically and experience wise. But he always pulled through.

He didnt have very famous fighters in his early record, but I thought that he was the underdog most of the times he fought. He fought better and better opponents, and he just raised his level a notch to match them.

All he really had was animal aggression and raw power.

Anyway, the 3 biggest names in his win column pre-Barrera are

Chockchai 3k Battery-Oriental Pacific 112 champ
Chatchai Sasakul- 112 lineal champ
Lehlo Ledwaba- 122 champ

 

I didn't even realise Pac beat Sasakul.

 

Pac was getting jabbed to death by that guy.

All fight long he was getting hammered with quick 1-2's then the dude circles away.

Pac hurt Sasakul with solid hits in the mid rounds and made him less and less active and gun shy.

Then I think around the 8th or 9th, Sasakul got hit with a couple of left handed bombs that really hurt him, then a final thunderbolt left cross that sent the champ to the canvas.

He got counted out.

 

IMO in this order these are the best fighters he fought before 2003

Chatchai Sasakul
Lehlohonolo Ledwaba
Jorge Eliecer Julio
Agapito Sanchez (should have been DQ W for using lace on gloves to worsen the cut on pacs eye)
Fahprakorb Rakkiatgym
Nedal Hussein
Wethya Sakmuangklang
Reynante Jamili
Emmanuel Lucero

 

Sasakul was good enough to completely outbox and outclass Pacquiao for the majority of their fight before getting careless. Then again any very good Flyweight would've done the same. Sasakul was the first and only man to beat Yuri Arbachakov though, who was at the end of his career when Sasakul beat him. Still, a very good boxer, but that win was pretty fluky, and Pacquiao would've gotten destroyed by the likes of Mark Johnson. Pacquiao was getting by solely on speed and power at Fly, no technical skills whatsoever. All he had was a straight left.

Ledwaba was another highly rated 122 pounder, but by this time Pacquiao was in better shape and at a more suitable weight, and he just completely dwarfed Ledwaba and beat him up basically.

Those are his two best wins prior to 2003. He was really not very good at the lower weights. He didn't start becoming a beast until he hit Featherweight. Even then he wasn't technically great but he had refined his game to the point that he could use his physical advantages against the opposition he was facing. He also fit the weight much better. Since then he's gotten increasingly better technically while increasingly lesser physically. I'd say he's about at his peak right now skill-wise.

 

I wouldnt say "flukey"

Sure, I also thought he was losing most of the early to middle rounds because of Sasakul's excellent boxing. 10-9 scores for the champ, for sure. Sasakul was by far, the more accomplished fighter.

Manny was a few weeks shy of his 20th birthday when they fought.

But Pac was nailing him with 2, 3, maybe 4 really hard shots per round. Now, that just isnt enough to win you the round, but it slowly but surely softened Sasakul up.

By the middle rounds, I could see that the Thai champ was getting hurt by those roundhouse and straight lefts to the head and body.

By the later rounds, you could see that Pac was gaining ground and he looked more fresh and more agressive than the champ. He was still trailing on points, but he was also breaking Sasakul down.

The KO wasnt a fluke.

It was all hard work.

 

the only 'old' mexcan legend he beat was erik morales.. dont generalize and learn more about boxing ok?

 

i agree with this statement, even the flukey part.. if there was a 2nd fight like 2 or 3 months after pac won or he granted a rematch, i think sasakul would have outboxed him