Manny Pacquiao returns to the boxing ring after a four-year absence on Saturday night when he faces WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios in Las Vegas.
The eight-weight champion will seek to roll back the years and break the record he set back in 2019 by becoming the oldest major belt holder in welterweight history.
If Pacquiao upsets the odds against Barrios, he will be the second-oldest world champion of all time, slotting in above George Foreman and behind Bernard Hopkins.
Whatever happens at the weekend, it’s been a remarkable journey for Pacquiao, going back 30 years and spanning four decades.
MORE: Manny Pacquiao’s nine best fights, ranked
Manny Pacquiao career timeline
1995
Pacquiao made his professional debut on January 22, aged 16, winning a four-round light flyweight contest against Edmund Enting Ignacio. By the end of the year, he improved to 10-0 with four knockouts.
1996
After missing an agreed 111-pound catchweight, Pacquiao was knocked out by a brutal third-round bodyshot from Rustico Torrecampo. In response, he churned out five wins to close out the year, with four stoppages in succession
1997
Pacquiao continued to rack up KOs, with his eighth straight stoppage taking care of Chokchai Chockvivat in the fifth round of a scheduled 12 to win the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation Flyweight title. He moved to 22-1.
1998
A first fight outside of the Philippines ended inside a round as Pacquiao floors Shin Terao three times in Tokyo. In December, he knocked out Chatchai Sasakul in round eight to win a first world title — the WBC flyweight belt.
1999
History repeated for Pacquiao in his second title defence as he weighed in a pound over the flyweight limit to lose his crown on the scales and was wrecked by a third-round bodyshot from Boonsai Sangsurat. He returned at super bantamweight, dropping and stopping Reynante Jamili three times in the second round to win the WBC international title.
2000
Pacquiao claimed three wins out of three by knockout, including handing defeats to the previously unbeaten Seung Kon Chae and Nedal Hussein.
2001
In a stunning US debut, Pacquiao demolished IBF super bantamweight champion Lehlo Ledwaba inside two rounds. His first defence as a two-weight world champion against Agapito Sanchez ended in a technical draw after Pacquiao is cut by headbutts.
2002
Paquiao made another statement Stateside with a second-round stoppage of the experienced Jorge Eliecer Julio on the Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson undercard in Memphis. He returned home to the Philippines for a third defence, decking Prayat Sawaingam four times in a hellacious first-round win.
2003
Serikzhan Yeshmagambetov floored Pacquiao in round four before being stopped in the next session. A third-round TKO of the undefeated Emmanuel Lucero was Manny’s final defence of his super bantamweight title. He stepped up to featherweight to dethrone Ring Magazine champion Marco Antonio Barrera in a masterclass, stopping the Mexican great in the 11th round.
2004
The first instalment of Pacquiao’s defining rivalry. In an incredible opening round, he decked Juan Manuel Marquez three times before the IBF and WBA featherweight champion battled back to earn a split-decision draw. He returned home to stop Narongrit Pirang in four.
2005
Pacquiao stepped up to super featherweight and dropped a narrow unanimous decision to Erik Morales on March 19 at the MGM Grand. He got back to winning ways in his new division six months later with a sixth-round stoppage of Hector Velazquez.
2006
The Morales rivalry was settled decisively in Pacquiao’s favour. Following a unanimous decision win over Oscar Larios, Pacman produced one of his greatest performances to stop ‘El Terrible’ in 10 rounds in January. He then demolished Morales with three knockdowns inside three rounds to take their November rubber match at the Thomas & Mack Centre.
2007
Pacquiao dropped and stopped the previously unbeaten Jorge Solis in eight rounds before putting another Mexican rivalry conclusively to bed, with Barrera hearing the final bell this time before dropping a wide unanimous decision.
2008
Settling the argument with Marquez was not so straightforward. Pacquiao left Mandalay Bay with a split decision win and the WBC featherweight title, but the rivalry remained up for grabs. He stepped up to overwhelm WBC lightweight champion David Diaz to become a five-weight champion. A leap up to welterweight brought a shellacking for a shopworn Oscar De La Hoya and propelled Pacquiao to mainstream superstar status.
2009
His greatest year. Ricky Hatton’s four-year reign as lineal super lightweight champion ended as Pacquiao floored him twice in round one and turned his lights out with a highlight reel left hook in the second. Up at welterweight, Miguel Cotto provided more robust opposition but was decked in three and four and overwhelmed in the last. During this time, in his past four fights, Pacquiao won three world titles at three different weights.
2010
In two outings at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Pacquiao won pretty much every round against Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito, with the latter bout for the WBO super welterweight title. Despite the historic feat of becoming an eight-weight champion, the one-sided nature of the Clottey and Margarito fights only heightened the appeal of a superfight with the now un-retired Floyd Mayweather Jr.
2011
Pacquiao’s defence of his WBO welterweight belt against Shane Moseley – beaten by Mayweather the previous May – followed a similar pattern to the Clottey and Margarito fights. Old foe Marquez was nowhere near as obliging, with Pacquiao’s majority decision win in their trilogy fight the most controversial verdict of the rivalry.
2012
The annus horribilis. Pacquiao found himself on the other end of terrible judging when Tim Bradley is inexplicably awarded a split-decision verdict at the MGM Grand. In their fourth fight, Marquez took the judges out of the equation. Pacquiao got up from a third-round knockdown, floored Marquez for the fifth time in the rivalry in round five, but was put to sleep by a right hand for the ages in round six.
2013
After taking 11 months off to recuperate from the Marquez loss, Pacquiao gave a one-sided beatdown to Brandon Rios over 12 rounds in Macao.
2014
Pacquiao righted the Bradley wrong to win back the WBO welterweight crown and floors Chris Algieri six times to finally set up the fight everyone wants.
2015
The world stopped for Mayweather vs. Pacquiao… and was largely disappointed as ‘Money’ boxed masterfully to a routine decision win. A torn rotator cuff necessitated surgery and a lengthy lay-off.
2016
Pacquiao dazzled to win his rubber match with Bradley, rubberstamping retirement perfectly. Seven months later, he beat Jessie Vargas by unanimous decision to win the WBO welterweight title for a third time.
2017
Pacquiao was unfortunate to lose a unanimous decision to Jeff Horn away from home in Brisbane, but it’s clear his imperious best is in the rearview mirror.
2018
A seventh-round stoppage of Argentine power-puncher Lucas Matthysse was Pacquiao’s first knockout since beating Cotto in December 2009.
2019
A satisfyingly comfortable win over Adian Broner and his knock-off Mayweather stylings preceded a superb display to hand Keith Thurman a maiden career defeat. ‘One Time’ was floored in round one and lost a unanimous decision as Pacquiao wins the WBA title at 147 pounds, becoming both the oldest and first four-time welterweight champion in history.
2020
Pacquiao did not box, leading to him being stripped of the WBA title and being designated as the “champion in recess.”
2021
A proposed fight with the undefeated WBC and IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence was set for August 21. On August 10, Spence withdrew with an eye injury. Yordenis Ugas was elevated from the undercard to face Pacquiao and won a unanimous decision to keep hold of Manny’s old WBA belt. On September 29, he announced his retirement from boxing
2022
Pacquiao ran in the 2022 Philippine presidential election and polled a distant third. He fought exhibition bouts against former WBA super bantamweight champion Jesus Salud and South Korean martial artist DK Yoo.
2024
Following a year spent away from the limelight, Pacquiao boxed another exhibition against K-1 super lightweight champion Rukiya Anpo and looked lacklustre.
2025
Pacquiao announced he will end a four-year boxing absence by challenging Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight title.
Manny Pacquaio professional boxing record
Pacquiao’s overall career record heading into the Barrios fight stands at 62 wins, eight losses and two draws from 72 fights.
He has 39 wins by knockout, giving him a KO win percentage of 62.9%.
Manny Pacquiao world titles won
Along with being an eight-weight champion, Pacquiao has won the lineal championship in four weight classes. This means his title win saw him recognised as the No. 1 fighter in the division.
At featherweight, super featherweight and super lightweight, this was recognised by Pacquiao being awarded the Ring Magazine belt. His win over Chatchai Sasakul to win the WBC and lineal flyweight titles in December 1998, it fell within the period between 1989 and 2002, when The Ring did not award titles.
Pacquiao was also the first boxer to win titles in four of boxing’s eight original divisions: flyweight, featherweight, lightweight and welterweight.
Manny Pacquiao titles won by division
- Flyweight: WBC, lineal
- Super Bantamweight: IBF
- Featherweight: The Ring (lineal)
- Super Featherweight: WBC, The Ring (lineal)
- Lightweight: WBC
- Super Lightweight: The Ring (lineal)
- Welterweight: WBO (x3), WBA
- Super Welterweight: WBC
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