Manny Pacquiao and his race to 7 titles - How legit are the first 6? (Part Two)

Four of the six world titles Manny Pacquiao has earned in different weight divisions have come from the Big Four sanctioning groups. The two others came from one minor world group and a magazine that has had previous ratings scandals.

In Part One I looked at the other two.

http://www.examiner.com/x-11372-Dallas-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m10d30-How-legit-is-Seventh-Heaven-for-Manny-Pacquiao-and-his-fans-Part-One

Let's start with the most recent and heaviest weight division of the Big Four that Pacquiao has won titles in and work our way down.

David Diaz (WBC Lightweight 135) 6-28-08. It's hard to find fault with the credentials of Diaz. He was coming off of upset wins over Jose Armando Santa Cruz and future Hall of Fame Member Erik Morales, who has the last win over Pacquiao. Diaz had only one loss on his record at the time to respected Kendall Holt and his record was 34-1 at the time Pacquiao stopped him by 9Th round TKO.

This was the first fight for Pacquiao at 135 as he had his previous eight fights at 130 super featherweight division.

Juan Manual Marquez (WBC Super Featherweight 130) 3-15-08. Marquez had beaten Marco Antonio Barrera by decision to win title and had made one title defense UD-12 over Rocky Juarez as he prepared for his rematch with Pacquiao where he was knocked down three times in their first fight in the first round. Pacquiao wins a spirited split decision and scored the only knockdown of the fight.

Three months later Pacquiao gains five pounds to challenge David Diaz at 135 without making a defense at 130.

Lehlo Ledwaba (IBF Super Bantamweight 122) 6-23-01. After being knocked out in three rounds defending his WBC Flyweight 112 title against Medgoen Singsurat, Pacquiao rattled of six straight wins at 122 before beating Ledwaba for his title and exciting an HBO audience.

Pacquiao made five defenses, going 4-0-1, before shocking the world with his 11Th round stoppage of Marco Antonio Barrera on 11-15-03 and claiming the Ring Magazine 126 Featherweight title.

Ledwaba was an impressive 32-1 at the time and making the sixth defense of his IBF Super Bantamweight title when Pacquiao stopped him in six rounds.

Chatchai Sasakul (WBC Flyweight 112) 12-04-98. Pacquiao wins his first world title over the respected champion via KO-8. Pacquiao loses in only his second title defense to Medgoen Singsurat and immediately jumps from 112 to 122 for six fights before Ledwaba.

Sasakul was may also end up in Hall of Fame. He was 23-1 going into the Pacquiao fight. He had made two WBC Interim Flyweight fights. One for the winning the vacant title and one a defense and three full WBC defenses of title before losing to Pacquiao. He also beat then unbeaten Russian Yuri Arbachakov.

This body of work by Pacquiao was Hall of Fame worthy if he had retired a few years ago. What can't be found between the lines of the record book is how popular Pacquiao has become with fans around the world. His continued improvement and effort of learning English is powerful and inspirational.

The Other Two Titles

You can get a detailed description by following the link above to part one. But here is a summary:

I discount Ring Magazine for sanctioning fights at all because of its past scandals doing it. Also The Ring and they sells advertising along with writing editorial, and are today owned by one of the biggest promoters in the world, Golden Boy, which is a blatant conflict of interest. I really have no problem specifically with Barrera - Pacquiao I though because on paper it was a championship - level fight put together by Hall of Fame matchmaker Don Chargin.

I don't really have respect for fly-by nights like the IBA and IBO as they seem to just appear when the Big Four have conflicts with sanctioning fights and make no efforts in areas of boxing safety, sports medicine and competition to name a few areas where they fall short.

However on paper Hatton - Pacquiao looked good after Hatton previously went 10 with Mayweather and had huge travel-friendly fan base.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-11372-Dallas-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d1-Manny-Pacquiao-and-his-race-to-7-titles--How-legit-are-the-first-6-Part-Two