Throughout his professional career, Manny Pacquiao shared the ring with some of the best boxers of all time. The 45-year-old has fought the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya – whom he retired in 2008 – and even boxing legend Ricky Hatton.

Despite fighting the biggest names in the sport, Pacquiao has revealed that there was one man that he was surprised he survived the ‘most feared’ fighter’s punches.

The punching power of Antonio Margarito proved too much for the ‘Pac Man’ when the pair met back in 2010. Coming into the contest, Pacquiao sensationally knocked out Hatton to win the IBO and The Ring light welterweight titles, as well as defeating both Miguel Cotto and Joshua Clottey.

As for Margarito, ‘El Tornado de Tijuana’ had a professional record of 38-6-1 and came into the bout with ‘Pac Man’ off the back of a unanimous decision victory over Roberto Garcia.

While Margarito was a dangerous contender, Pacquiao was still the clear favourite to win the showdown at Cowboys Stadium in Texas.

Pacquiao Claims Margarito’s Power Proved Too Much For Him

‘Pac Man’ went on to get the win

Pacquiao went on to defeat Margarito by unanimous decision to win the vacant WBC super welterweight world title. However, speaking about the showdown to Fight Hub TV via Marca, ‘Pac Man’ revealed:

“When I beat Margarito, the commentators asked me if I would defend the title, I said no, I didn’t care if they left it to him. (His punch) is different. It was surprising that I survived that fight. I could take the punches, I could take the blows, but after the fight I could feel something, it was too much for me.”

Despite this, Pacquiao gave the Mexican fighter a lesson, hitting Margarito consistently thanks to his vicious speed. The clash with ‘Pac Man’ kept ‘El Tornado de Tijuana’ out of the ring for over a year.

As for Pacquiao, he moved back down to welterweight. That was his last fight at 154lbs before calling it quits, but he still went on to achieve a lot at 147lbs.

Manny Pacquiao Exploring Title Bout Against Mario Barrios

The 45-year-old is eyeing up yet another fight

Following his win over Margarito, Pacquiao defeated Shane Mosley six months later and Juan Manuel Marquez, before falling to a defeat against Timothy Bradley.

Pacquiao’s poor run threatened to continue when he lost to Marquez, but eventually avenged his defeat to Bradley in 2014. His next big fight would take place in 2015 when he fought Mayweather in ‘The Fight of the Century’ – which transpired to be the highest-grossing boxing bout in history.

Both men sold 4.6 million pay-per-views and generated $410 million in revenue – with Mayweather going on to win by unanimous decision.

Pacquiao went on to fight seven more times before his career ended in 2021 when – at the age of 42 – he suffered a shock defeat to Yordenis Ugas in Las Vegas.

That said, he made a return to the ring a year later, defeating DK Yoo in an exhibition clash in 2022. While he hasn’t fought professionally since 2021, a sensational Pacquiao vs Mario Barrios WBC welterweight title fight is being explored for later this year, Manny Pacquiao Promotions president Sean Gibbons told ESPN.

“I made history at 40 beating Keith Thurman and I feel at 45, I have a lot left in the game as I haven’t taken a lot of punishment over the last few years,” Pacquiao recently told ESPN. “I want to go out making history.”

Boxing’s only eight-division champion, Pacquiao won his first title in 1998 at age 19 – with his last title victory coming against Thurman in July 2019 at 147lbs.