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Pacquiao, Donaire, or… Elorde?: Who is the Best Fighter to Come from… the Philippines?
Later this month will see the return of Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, who comes back into the ring at the age of 46 to take on Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight championship.
Pacquiao, 62-8-2 (39), last fought in 2021 when he dropped a clear unanimous decision to the Cuban fighter Yordenis Ugas, then 26-4 (12), in Las Vegas. That fight itself followed two years of inactivity after Pacquiao had outpointed the then-undefeated Keith Thurman over twelve rounds, also in Las Vegas.
It can be difficult to keep track of Pacquio’s accomplishments: titles in eight divisions over a 26-year professional career.
If Pacquiao is the best fighter to ever come from the Philippines, then he has climbed to the top of that pile with difficulty. The nation has, for over a hundred years, produced some of the world’s finest fighters.
Manny Pacquiao, 62-8-2 (39)
There is very little new to be said about Manny Pacquiao as he prepares to begin to write another chapter in his career. Rising from abject poverty in the Philippines, the 5’5½” fighter began his career at 106lbs with a unanimous decision over Edmund Enting Ignacio in 1995.
It took three years and 23 fights before Pacquiao ventured outside of the Philippines. When he did, he did so by going to Tokyo, Japan, where he stopped Shin Terao in one round, knocking him down three times. After that, ‘Pac-Man’ largely took his show on the road, travelling between Thailand and the Philippines, and winning the WBC flyweight title, before getting the Las Vegas call.
That took him to the MGM Grand where he stopped Lehlo Ledwaba in six rounds for the IBF super-bantamweight championship. After that, Pacquiao snacked on world titles up to welterweight, walking through fellow legends Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales, Oscar Larios, and Jorge Solis.
Arguably, his signature wins came over the worn Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton, but it was those bouts that sent him into the stratosphere and, for seven years, Pacquiao was the possibly the greatest fighting machine on the planet.
He took victories over Miguel Cotto, the underrated Joshua Clottey, and Shane Mosley, then suffered honourable losses to Timothy Bradley (controversial) and Marquez (devastating). A run of wins led to a disappointing fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr followed with a diminuendo through losses to Jeff Horn and Ugas.
But for a period of some years that seemed almost impossibly long, any boxing fan on the planet would say one word when asked to name the finest fighter of their time: “Pacquiao.”
Ceferino Garcia, 121-30-14 (77)
His name may be a little faded today, but Garcia is ranked #2 on the pound-for-pound list for Filipino fighters, according to BoxRec.
He was also the first – and only – Filipino to hold the middleweight crown, which he won in 1939 by stopping Fred Apostoli in seven rounds at Madison Square Garden. After beating Apostoli, Garcia defended his title in Manila (with Jack Dempsey as referee), Los Angeles, and Kansas City, before losing on points over fifteen rounds to Ken Overlin back in New York in 1940.
- Read next | As Manny Pacquiao prepares to fight, another Filipino legend returns in Buenos Aires this weekend
Garcia’s record became spotty after that loss, although he carried on fighting for another five years. His last bout came in 1945 in Houston, Texas, when he lost on points over ten rounds to Bill McDowell. He died 36 years later, in San Diego.
Nonito Donaire, 43-8 (28)
The ‘Filipino Flash’ may have just come out of retirement with a sluggish fight in Argentina, but there was a point at which he was considered one of the best fighters in the world.
Turning professional in 2001 with a stoppage over Jose Lazaro in Inglewood, California, Donaire would fight for the IBF and IBO world flyweight titles in 2007, stopping the Australian Vic Darchinyan in five rounds.
After three defences of that title, Donaire went up and won the world bantamweight title by stopping Fernando Montiel in two rounds, then two fights later took the super-bantamweight title after a twelve-round decision over Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. It was in the third defence of that title, against Guillermo Rigondeaux, that Donaire dropped his belts.
It was after this that Donaire began to shift the right-hand side of the card, being brought in as the opponent for Naoya Inoue, Carl Frampton, and Jessie Magdaleno. He was in competitive in all of them, though (save the second Inoue fight, when he was stopped in two). It took a twelve-round decision loss to the unheralded Alexandro Santiago in 2023 to finally bring a halt to Donaire’s career.
Except… he fought against last month. It seems that there is no stopping the ‘Filipino Flash’.
Gabriel ‘Flash’ Elorde, 89-27-2 (33)
It is ironic that ‘Flash’ Elorde’s fame has dimmed somewhat since his passing in 1985, given his nickname.
The Manila-born fighter turned professional in 1951 and over a twenty-year career, became the world super-featherweight champion, defending eleven times.
Elorde’s title win came in 1960 against Harold Gomes and was held at the Araneta Coliseum (the same venue for ‘The Thrilla in Manila’). Elorde stopped Gomes in seven rounds, then stopped the same opponent in one round just over five months later.
Elorde held the title for nearly seven years until a visit to Tokyo in 1967 saw him lose a majority decision over fifteen rounds. His record became a spotty one after that, largely alternating between wins and draws before retirement in 1971.
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