Pacquiao wants a piece of boxing history

By Erwin S. Lirazan

NOW that he is the current pound-for-pound king, Manny Pacquiao is eyeing a piece of history in his Nov. 15 (RP time) fight against Miguel Cotto—to be the first boxer to win seven titles in seven weight divisions.

“At stake in this fight is a record that nobody has achieved or reached,” Pacquiao wrote in Filipino in his regular column at www.philboxing.com.

“Nobody has had the honor of winning seven world titles in seven weight divisions,” Pacquiao wrote.

Sun.Star accepts donations for victims of Typhoon Ondoy

Pacquiao, who started at 106 pounds and last fought against Ricky Hatton at 142, said the prospect of making history is what drives him to work harder to sieze Miguel Cotto’s World Boxing Organization welterweight title.

“As of now, only I and Oscar dela Hoya have six world titles in six weight divisions and if I win, I will be the first and only boxer to achieve this (seven world titles),” said Pacquiao.

The Filipino boxing icon has already won the world title in the flyweight, super bantamweight, super featherweight, lightweight, and light welterweight divisions.

Pacquiao assured his fans that he is working hard in his training camp in Baguio City and is ready to go 12 rounds of sparring against three sparmates in the next few days.

Pacquiao is set to leave for the US on Oct. 24 for the final phase of his training at the Wild Card gym of Freddie Roach before leaving for Las Vegas in early November.


Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 19, 2009.