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Manny Pacquiao Reveals His Toughest Opponent and the Hardest Puncher He Has Ever Faced

Published 08/20/2021, 3:30 PM EDT

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In a career of over two decades, Manny Pacquiao has faced some of the best boxers of all time. His legendary resume of 62 wins, 7 losses, and 2 draws, wasn’t an easy accolade to attain. The Filipino legend had to go through eight divisions, winning world titles in all of them. That said, Pacquiao’s list of opponents also reflects some of the most vicious punchers in the sport.

While ‘Pac-Man’ is now ready to face Yordenis Ugas for the WBA welterweight title on August 21, he revealed his toughest fight and the opponent who landed him the hardest punch. Pacquiao connected with Brian Custer and addressed several things, including two of the most asked questions about his career.

Manny Pacquiao tagged his scrap against Antonio Margarito as the toughest fight of his career. Although Pacquiao dominated the fight, he was pushed to the brink on umpteen occasions.

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Coming off from an infamous cheating scandal, Margarito was a villain to the boxing fans. He had plastered his arms in several fights to disfigure his opponents. However, Pacquiao outclassed him for all 12 rounds and claimed a unanimous win to grab the vacant WBC super welterweight title. While Pacquiao later faced Floyd Mayweather in 2015, he still posed Margarito as the toughest call of his career.

Nevertheless, ‘El Tornado de Tijuana’ Margarito wasn’t the biggest puncher of Pacquiao’s combat life. Another veteran and former world champion boxer holds that tag.

Manny Pacquiao Didn’t Like Losing the WBA Belt- “It’s Not Good for Someone to Take”

Manny Pacquiao and the biggest punch he had taken

As Per ‘Pac-Man’, Miguel Cotto was the biggest puncher who troubled him a lot in 2009. It was Manny Pacquiao who had won the bout via stoppage. However, Cotto could expose a few loopholes in Pacquiao’s game plan. The fight went on till the 12 round, where Pacquiao became too aggressive.

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The fight became a lopsided affair on round 9, which saw the Filipino put out blood from his rival. The situation worsened to an extent that Cotto’s wife left the arena. However, both men went ahead until Cotto had nothing more to offer. But Pacquiao remembered him as the hardest puncher he ever faced, quite a tag to tout.

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Written by:

Raj Sarkar

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A senior boxing writer at EssentiallySports, Raj Sarkar is a mass media graduate who is currently pursuing his master’s degree in broadcast journalism. In addition to his current role, he has worked with the MMA team at EssentiallySports and has interviewed prominent fighters such as Ritu Phogat and 'The Red King' Rory MacDonald. He combined his bachelor's degree with his adoration for combat sports and has a combined 2000 plus bylines in MMA and boxing over the last two years.
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