Boxing
Discover the boxing class Fame 2025: Pacquiao, Paz, More
Published
1 year agoon
If Manny Pacquiao needed a reminder that his amazing boxing career belongs in the past, his numerous achievements would be celebrated when he was introduced to the International Gallery of Sław in boxeria on Sunday at Canastot, Fresh York.
Most of the inducing Ibhof arrives at a earnest event, and their boxing careers strongly in the rearview mirror. But not Pacquiao.
With his best years, the 46-year-old will undoubtedly appear again in the boxing ring after almost four years, when he takes Mario Barrios in the WBC welterweight title on July 19 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The world of boxing assumed that the brilliant career of Pacquiao conducts a course, only to announce that he returns to create a “history”. “Pac Man” already has its chapter in the history of boxing, winning the championship in unmatched eight boxing divisions, but with victory against Barrios Pacquiao would become the first warrior who won the world championship title as Hall of Famer.
He also tries to break his record as the oldest 147-pound boxing world champion (40 years, 215 days). Only two boxers, heavyweight George Foreman and featherlight bulky Bernard Hopkins, won the fight for the title of world champion at the age of 46 or older.
But Pacquiao will not be alone in the entrance to the room. Here is every 2025 induction in the contemporary category – and which makes them special.
Manny Pacquiao
Pacquiao (62-8-2, 39 KO) began his career at the age of 16 among poverty in the Philippines. Pacquiao initially won his first world title in just 18 years in Flyweight (112 pounds) in 1998. Until 2010, Pacquiao conquered its eighth weight division with the title of medium mass (154 pounds).
His career began when he moved to Los Angeles to cooperate with coach Freddie Roach, with whom he met to prepare for Barrios next month. Pacquiao defeated a long list of boxing Hall of Famers: Marco Antonio Barrera, Timothy Bradley Jr., Juan Manuel Marquez, Ricky Hatton, Oscar de la Hoya, Shane Mosley, Erik Morales and Miguel Cotto. His decision-making loss against Floyd Mayweather-Konne Hall of Famer-W 2015 generated 4,600,000 payroll purchases, over $ 400 million of revenues. The fight also accumulated over $ 70 million of ticket sales.
His versatile Buzzsaw style made Pacquiao a popular, obligatory boxer. Throughout his career in Mexican warriors Morales (2-1-1) and Marquez (2-1-1) there was great competition, and for many years he was considered the best boxing boxer, before Mayweather.
Some of the best Pacquiao performances and spectacular KO win included those against Morales, Hatton, Barrera, Cotto and David Diaz. He bounced off the crushing defeat with Marquez in the fourth fight in 2012 to enjoy the overdue flourishing in his career with the victories over Keith Thurman and Adrien Broner in 2019.
What separated Pacquiao from the rest during his career is the speed of his hands, leg work, movement and impact efficiency, all of which fell after the Filipino 40 years. In his last fight, Pacquiao lost his unanimous decision for Jordenis Ugas (overdue replacement of Errola Spence Jr.) in August 2021. He was recently occupied by another career in his native Philippines.
Pacquiao ranks second in the 10 best men’s ESPN boxers from the 21st century, for Mayweather. Pacquiao 5 feet and 5 feet consistently defeated men who were bigger than him throughout their career and referred to previous Filipino boxers as inspiration as his introduction to the Ibhof approach.
“I am very honored to join my countrymen – Gabriel” Flash “Elorde [junior lightweight champion 1960-67]Francisco Villaruel Guilleo [more widely known as Pancho Villa, flyweight champion 1923-25] and the legendary promoter Lope “Papa” Sarreal – in the prestigious international gallery of boxing fame, “said Pacquiao ESPN.
“I am standing on the shoulders of these icons and other Filipino boxing heroes who paved the way ahead of me, including Ceferino Garcia [world middleweight champion 1939-40]ELEUTERIO “Little Da” [bantamweight champion 1940, flyweight champion 1938-43] and Erbito Salavarria [WBC flyweight champion 1970-71, WBA flyweight champion 1975-76].
“Their courage, talent and heritage are still inspiring generations. I am looking forward to the day when even more Philippine fighters gain their place among the boxing elite – masters who lead the proud tradition of our nation and bring honor to the Philippines and Filippians around the world.”
Vinny Paz
Paz (50-10, 30 KO) is perhaps best remembered because of its unusual return from a dislocated circle and two broken vertebrae in the neck, supported in the catastrophe of the car in 1991. “Pazmanian Devil” suffered an injury in 1991 shortly after he defeated Gilbert Dele to win the WBA Junior title, and his Pudoksowa career. The clash was said that he may not walk again, and to support recover, he had to wear a metal halo head and a buckle of the neck.
But 14 months later, the boxer born in Rhode Island defeated Luis Santa in his return, the beginning of the winning series of the nine fighters, which ended when he stopped in the sixth round through the Roy Jones Jones summit, which challenged the title of IBF Super Middle Wweight in 1995. His life story was created for the film in 2016, “he came up with it.”
So elated! So honored: “Paz said ESPN by SMS.” I still remember Muhammad Ali and Roberto Duran [two fighters Paz will join in the IBHOF] When I was a child! My hero! “
Paz, who was born Vincenzo Edward Pazienza, shared the ring with several gigantic names: Roberto Duran, Jones, Hector “Macho” Camacho, Roger Mayweather, Herol Graham, Lloyd Honeyghan and Greg Haugen. Paz defeated Haugen with a unanimous decision to win a featherlight IBF title in 1987, and then lost his belt in a rematch in the same year, also by decision. Paz won another decision again in 1990, and then lost three attempts to gain a welterweight title.
Michael Nunn
Nunn (58-4, 38 KO) managed to win world titles in medium weight and great in medium weight during a violent competitive period. These divisions were then waters infected with sharks, but it testifies to the “second” quality of Nunna that he managed to win 11-4 in the fighting for the title of world champion with victories over the best warriors, such as Iran Barkley, Marlon Starling and colleague Hall of Famer Donald Curry.
Nunn from Davenport, Iów began his professional career after he barely lost his qualifications for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984. Then he maintained the title IBF Middle WWWEight in 1988–1991, and the title WBA Super Middle WWWEight in 1992-1994. Nunn lost its linear title in the middleweight against James Toney by TKO in the 11th round in 1991. Nunn was overtaken on the results cards before he was detained. Nunn also unsuccessfully threw himself at the title of featherlight heavyweight in 1998.
Among his best winnings were two in 1998, a crushing left hook in the first round of Kalambay Sumbay and the 9th round of Frank Tate in his first fight for the title of world champion. After a boxing career, Nunn was sentenced to 24 years in prison in 2004 for drug trafficking. It was published in 2019.
Yessica Chavez
Chavez (32-5-3, 4 KO), which retired in 2021, won the world titles in the weight of Junior Flyight and Flywigight. Chavez from Mexico captured the title of IBF Junior Flyight in 2011 and made three defense, then increased the division for a longer rule as a WBC Flyight Flyight champion, with six defense of titles (2015-2017), including two decision wins over Esmeralda Moreno.
Mary Jo Sanders
Sanders (25-1-1, 8 KO) is an early pioneer of women’s professional boxing and has won the main world titles in junior, welterweight, supple medium weight and medium weight. There were only two discolorations in Sanders’ records, her last two fights with another Hall of Famer Holly Holm, which ended in the loss of decisions and a draw (both in 2008). Sanders from Detroit is the daughter of NFL Hall of Famer Charlie Sanders.
Anne Sophie Mathis
Mathis (27-4-1, 23 KO) was a fearing puncher who defeated fighters such as Cindy Serrano, Holm and Jane Couch, another Hall of Famer. Mathis from France, he had world titles at Junior Welter Wweight (2006-2008) and semiconductor (2011). She withdrew from boxing in 2016 after she lost to Cecilia Bradzus, who is hard to the unquestioned welterweight championships.
Other induced in class 2025 are judges Kenny Bayless and Harry Gibbs (posthumous) and cutman al gavin in the category of bulky; Cathy “Cat” Davis in the Women’s Trailblazer category; Sender/journalist Randy Gordon and television producer Ross Greenburg in the category of observers; Rodrigo Valdez (posthumous) in the category of ancient timer and Owen Swift (posthumous) in the pioneering category.
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Robert Garcia Evaluates Terence Crawfords Odds Against Prime Pacquiao
Published
12 hours agoon
August 15, 2026
Top trainer and former world champion Robert Garcia has considered the outcome of a fantasy showdown between Terence Crawford and Manny Pacquiao.
The two generational greats reportedly came close to squaring off in 2021, back when Crawford was the WBO welterweight champion and ‘Pac Man’ held the WBA title.
Their unification match never materialised, though, as Pacquiao was scheduled to face Errol Spence Jr before ‘The Truth’ pulled out with a torn retina.
Instead, the Filipino legend ended up losing his WBA title to Yordenis Ugas at a stage when, while still serviceable, he was quite clearly past his best.
Crawford, meanwhile, was hitting top form around this time, just a few fights away from producing arguably a career-best performance against Spence.
He did, of course, manage to stop his welterweight rival in nine rounds, before moving up to 168lbs and becoming a three-division undisputed champion by dethroning Canelo Alvarez last September.
Based on those two performances, coach Garcia has told ESNEWS that he would favour ‘Bud’ to defeat even a prime version of Pacquiao.
“The Crawford that beat Spence – and the Crawford that beat Canelo – would probably beat Manny.”
While Crawford’s prime almost certainly came during his run of eight stoppages at welterweight, it is harder to pinpoint when Pacquiao ultimately reached his peak.
In terms of his most destructive performance at world level, however, many will point towards his second-round finish over Ricky Hatton in 2009.
While facing the ‘Hitman’ at 140lbs, Pacquiao would cement himself as a formidable welterweight champion soon after, dethroning Miguel Cotto with a 12th-round stoppage for the WBO title.
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Zuffa Boxing Parts Ways with Former World Champion After First Loss
Published
12 hours agoon
August 15, 2026
Former world champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk has been left between a rock and a hard place afterhis promotional contract with Zuffa Boxing has been terminated.
The Ukrainian dethroned long-reigning light-heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson in 2018, scoring an 11th-round stoppage that left his opponent with a brain injury.
Gvozdyk then made a WBC title defence before losing to Artur Beterbievwho extended his ruthless surge with a 10th-round finish in their 2019 encounter.
Since that defeat, ‘The Nail’ suffered a unanimous decision loss to David Benavidez in 2024, before entering a perceived 50/50 contest against Radivoje ‘Hot Rod’ Kalajdzic in February.
With both making their Zuffa debut, the two veterans delivered a thrilling battle in which Gvozdyk scored two knockdowns and had built a sizable lead.
In round seven, though, the 39-year-old found himself on the canvas and was ultimately stopped on his feet after getting dropped a second time.
Given his overall performance, one would suspect he had done enough to justify another meaningful opportunity, yet Gvozdyk has since told vRINGe that he will no longer be fighting under the Zuffa banner.
“They terminated the contract in February after a loss. That is, every promoter has the option that if a boxer loses, they have the right to terminate the contract. That’s exactly what they did. After the fight, everyone was saying how great it was. That everything was great. I rested. I started preparing as planned – somewhere around May. And then, around April, they told me I’d received an email terminating the contract.”
This is because his contract has been terminated, while Kalajdzic’s next outing with Dana White’s promotional outfit is confirmed for September 26 against Craig Richards.
As for Gvozdyk, it is difficult to predict what will come next but, at the age of 39, one would suspect that he is close to hanging up the gloves.
Still, he could hardly have been happy to part ways with Zuffa, which also terminated its contract with Robert Meriwether following his defeat to Tony Hirsch Jr in April.
Boxing
David Price Analyzes Conor Benns Chances Against Ryan Garcia for World Championship Glory
Published
1 day agoon
August 14, 2026
Former British champion and Olympic bronze medallist David Price has assessed whether his countryman, Conor Bennpossesses the necessary hand speed to defeat Ryan Garcia.
The two welterweights will square off at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on September 12, with Garcia making a first defence of his WBC world title.
It was arguably a career-best performance that saw him dethrone Mario Barrios in February, scoring a first-round knockdown before winning a wide unanimous decision.
But despite coming off this dominant display, Garcia was far less impressive when he returned from a year-long doping ban and lost on points to Rolando Romero in May 2025.
Still, many would argue that the 28-year-old has shown signs of world-class quality, while Benn remains glaringly unproven at the top level.
The 29-year-old has also not fought at 147lbs since 2022, with his last two outings resulting in unanimous decision victories over faded versions of Chris Eubank Jr and Regis Prograis.
Against Eubank, in particular, Benn’s speed seemed a key factor in their two middleweight encounters last year, despite him suffering a points defeat the first time around.
As he approaches this welterweight contest against Garcia, though, former heavyweight contender Price has told The Smith Brothers that he sees Benn contending with an unfamiliar disadvantage.
“I think I [favour Garcia]. Conor Benn’s got great hand speed, but I think [Garcia’s] hand speed could make the difference in the fight.”
Like Garcia, Benn tested positive for a banned substance – clomifene – and was eventually removed from his cancelled 2022 encounter with Eubank.
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