Manny Pacquiao boasts second longest spell from start of first world title reign to last
Manny Pacquiao goes into Saturday’s fight against Yordenis Ugas looking for yet another world title win, and research from William Hill has revealed how a victory for the Filipino boxer would see him overtake George Foreman to be crowned boxing’s king of longevity.
A study analysing boxers from 1950 onwards to have won at least one major world title (WBA/NBA, WBC, WBO, IBF) in one of boxing's eight 'glamour' divisions – heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight, bantamweight and flyweight – shows Pacquiao boasts the second longest spell from the start of his first world title reign to the end of his last behind Foreman.
Pacquiao won his first world title in 1998 when defeating Chatchai Sasakul for the WBC flyweight title, while he most recently held the WBA (Super) welterweight title until being stripped of the belt in January – a period of 22 years and one month.
The 42-year-old faces Ugas this weekend in Las Vegas for his old WBA (Super) welterweight title and should he secure another victory, Pacquiao will have extended his period at the top to 22 years and eight months, which would eclipse Foreman’s current record of 22 years and five months. Foreman first became WBA and WBC world heavyweight champion in 1973, before finally losing the IBF world heavyweight title in 1995.
Sitting behind the top two in the list is former world light heavyweight champion Virgil Hill, who experienced a spell of 20 years and two months between winning his first world title in 1987 and losing his last in 2007.
Rounding off the top five are former world middleweight and light heavyweight champion (19 years, six months) and ex-lightweight, welterweight and middleweight champion Roberto Duran (17 years, five months).
Completing the top 10 are Floyd Mayweather Jr. (17 years, three months), Muhammad Ali (15 years, seven months), Wladimir Klitschko (15 years, one month), Evander Holyfield (14 years, seven months) and Vitali Klitschko (14 years, four months).
A spokesperson from William Hill said: “As an eight-division world champion and with 12 major world titles to his name, Manny Pacquiao’s status as one of boxing’s greatest ever fighters has long been assured, but we wanted to know how his long-standing reign at the top compares with boxers from years gone by.
“We decided to take a look at boxing’s longest spells from the start of a fighter’s first world title reign to the end of their last – and the results make for fascinating reading.
“While George Foreman sits at the top of the pile boasting a spell of 22 years and five months, Pacquiao can eclipse that record by beating Yordenis Ugas on Saturday to extend his run to an incredible 22 years and eight months – a feat that would only add to Pac-Man’s legend within the sport.”
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