Manny Pacquiao enshrined in boxing's Hall of Fame just as he resumes his record-setting career
Associated Press
Manny Pacquiao's fighting days aren't finished yet, as he's coming out of retirement at 46 for a shot at another title next month.
No matter what happens in the remaining stage, it's hard to find many better resumes than the one he already assembled in a career that landed him in the International Boxing Hall of Fame on Sunday.
'And now, when I look back,' Pacquiao said, 'eight-division world champion, world titles in four different decades, oldest welterweight world champion in history, those are not just opinions. They are facts.'
Pacquiao was the headline name in the class of 2025 that was enshrined during a ceremony at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, New York. He won't be able to celebrate too long, as then it's back to training for his July 19 bout in Las Vegas against WBC champ Mario Barrios.
Pacquiao didn't mention that during his speech at the end of a lengthy induction ceremony. Instead he focused on the record-setting accomplishment of winning titles in eight weight classes, a fighter who made his pro debut in the 106-pound class and rose all the way to win a title at the 154-pound limit.
'From flyweight to junior middleweight, eight divisions,' Pacquiao said. 'Every fight, every victory was a step further from poverty. It was not just for me but for my family, for the Filipino people.'
Vinny Paz, the three-division champion formerly known as Vinny Pazienza who overcame a broken neck sustained in a car crash to resume his career, and Michael Nunn, a champion at middleweight and super middleweight, were the other top men fighters in the class.
Women in the class included Yessica Chavez, Anne Sophie Mathis, Mary Jo Sanders and Cathy 'Cat' Davis, who after filing a sex discrimination suit against New York State Athletic Commission became one of the first women to be granted a pro boxing license by the organization in 1978.
Pointing to the jewelry the inductees received, Davis said: "I've got this beautiful ring here and I asked them to make it big enough for my middle finger, because if I ever see those old white stupid men who kept us out, you know what I'm going to do."
Kenny Bayless, who worked some of Pacquiao's biggest fights including his loss to Floyd Mayweather and knockout of Ricky Hatton, and fellow referee Harry Gibbs were enshrined, along with cut man Al Gavin. Broadcaster Randy Gordon, HBO producer Ross Greenburg and late boxers Rodrigo Valdez and Owen Swift rounded out the class.
Pacquiao retired in 2021 with a record of 62-8-2 with 39 KOs, fighting in some of the biggest blockbusters of the 2000s. He said he always sought the toughest opponents so he could continuing testing himself.
That made him far richer than he could have imagined when he was raised in poverty in the Philippines. He went on to serve his country as a senator from 2016-22 and ran unsuccessfully for president, and his voice broke a bit as he thanked his fans from home along with his family.
'This is our victory,' Pacquiao said. 'This is our story and the best is yet to come.'
___
AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox Sports
2 hours ago
- Fox Sports
Dodgers' pitching injury woes culminate in a punt. Matt Sauer takes one for the team in 11-1 blowout
Associated Press SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers have 14 pitchers making more than $100 million combined this season on their injured list, They've been signing, promoting, playing and releasing pitchers almost daily as they engage in a perpetual scramble to assemble enough healthy arms to compete. When the Dodgers fell behind in the third inning Tuesday night while desperately short of options on the mound, the defending World Series champions essentially decided to punt a game away to the San Diego Padres. Matt Sauer, a 26-year-old minor leaguer getting his fourth callup already this season, threw 111 pitches while giving up 13 hits, three walks and nine runs and facing 30 batters in the Padres' 11-1 victory. The Dodgers allowed Sauer to pitch 4 2/3 innings with nothing close to his best stuff, and the Padres' loaded lineup feasted on him while turning a much-anticipated rivalry game into a laugher. Utilityman Kike Hernandez then took the mound during the sixth and pitched the final 2 1/3 innings, allowing three hits and one earned run while throwing 36 pitches — none faster than 57 mph. Manager Dave Roberts grimly acknowledged that the Dodgers essentially had to give up on trying to win this game after falling behind 3-0 in the third inning. 'You've just got to look at where our 'pen is at, and appreciate what we have the next couple of days,' Roberts said. 'I felt it just wasn't smart to chase and red-line guys. I've got to give credit to Matt. That was as much as he's ever pitched, and (he) essentially took it for the team to try and stay away from other guys and give us a chance to win a series. That's what we came in here to do, and we're in position to do that.' Indeed, the Dodgers used four high-leverage relievers for five total innings while hanging on for their 8-7 victory over the Padres in 10 innings on Monday night. That left the bullpen weary behind Lou Trivino, who went out as the opener Tuesday and threw one hitless inning. The Dodgers' rotation is profoundly patchwork. With Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, Tony Gonsolin and Gavin Stone headlining the list of potential starters sidelined by injury — and with Shohei Ohtani still proceeding quite deliberately in his mound comeback — Los Angeles can currently send out Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 37-year-old Clayton Kershaw and Dustin May. The other two spots in the rotation are being filled by temporary callups and/or bullpen games. The Dodgers didn't even want to try a bullpen game Tuesday after falling behind early, since Roberts thought it would be more prudent to have his bullpen largely available Wednesday when Justin Wrobleski — another rotation filler by the desperate Dodgers — takes the mound. 'It's where our staff is at right now as far as who's available, who's not,' Roberts said. 'Who we can kind of push, who we can't. And these are the starters we have, so we've got to go with it and make the best.' Sauer accepted his bizarre fate, realizing the Dodgers needed his arm to fill innings while they regrouped. 'I've just got to be better with locating the ball,' said Sauer, who signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers last winter. 'I wouldn't necessarily say (it's) a pride thing. I know my role is to eat up innings, and I feel like I've got the frame and the repertoire to do that, and I'm going to go out there and compete every time.' Everyone recognizes that the deep-pocketed Dodgers' success over the past several years has happened despite a jaw-dropping slew of major pitching injuries. Last season was similar to this campaign, with practically every pitcher on the roster missing large chunks of the season and postseason. Los Angeles won the World Series last season with an October starting rotation of late-season acquisition Jack Flaherty, Yamamoto (who missed three months of the regular season) and Walker Buehler (who also missed three months) supported by multiple bullpen games. Flaherty and Buehler then left in free agency. Roberts disagreed with the notion that the Dodgers' unlikely success with bullpen games last season — particularly in the NLDS against the Padres — could have given them false confidence in their ability to solve these major pitching woes with that strategy. 'Today wasn't really a bullpen day,' Roberts said. 'If you look at last year, certain games, you have nine guys that you have available, and we certainly didn't have that today. Somebody was going to have to take three to five innings. We weren't in that situation last year, so I don't think that's a fair comparison. When you get behind, you've got to kind of just ride it out.' ___ AP MLB: recommended
Fox Sports
3 hours ago
- Fox Sports
Soto stares down Gore and helps Mets rally past Nationals in extra innings
Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Juan Soto is starting to feel it. Following a May slump that dropped his batting average to .224, the New York Mets slugger has eight hits in his last four games. And when he homered Tuesday night at Citi Field, he stared down Washington Nationals pitcher MacKenzie Gore a couple of times while rounding the bases. 'We were saying hi to each other. That's it,' Soto said with the slightest hint of a smile, drawing laughs from reporters. Gore and Soto were traded for each other as part of a 2022 blockbuster that also sent CJ Abrams, Robert Hassell III and James Wood from San Diego to Washington. 'We always go back and forth. Nothing bad or anything. And he got me,' said Gore, who leads the major leagues with 114 strikeouts. Because of their link from that trade? 'I don't know. Just some tough at-bats. And he's super competitive, which is why people like him, why people like watching him,' Gore said. 'Threw a bad slider and he hit it out.' Soto also ripped a pivotal RBI double against his original team and threw out a runner at home plate from right field to help New York rally for a 5-4 victory in 10 innings. He has four home runs in the past 10 games to give him 12 during his first season with the Mets since signing a record $765 million, 15-year contract as a free agent. The four-time All-Star, who helped Washington win the 2019 World Series, has reached base safely in each of his last 12 games and is batting .341 with eight RBIs and a 1.225 OPS during that span. Soto went 3 for 3 with three walks and three runs Sunday in a 13-5 win at Colorado, reaching base six times in a game for the first time in his career. His first time up Tuesday night, though, Soto saw three straight sliders from Gore and struck out looking against the left-hander. In the third inning, the five-time Silver Slugger winner got some revenge. He drove a 2-2 slider 373 feet the other way to left-center for a solo homer that shaved New York's deficit to 3-2 — and he jawed in Gore's direction immediately after connecting. 'Just a great swing," Soto said. "Like I said, another mistake. I'm waiting for mistakes. He made a mistake and I put the ball in play.' ___ Freelance writer Jerry Beach contributed. ___ AP MLB: recommended
Fox Sports
4 hours ago
- Fox Sports
Brendan Donovan leaves Cardinals' loss early with toe discomfort
Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis Cardinals utilityman Brendan Donovan left Tuesday night's game against the Toronto Blue Jays with left toe discomfort. Donovan, who has mainly played second base this season but was the leftfielder on Tuesday, left the game after striking out on a nine-pitch at-bat in the eighth inning in the Cardinals' 10-9 loss. 'It's kind of the joint in his big toe,' Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. 'You can see that last at-bat, he couldn't even get off his backside there. It was hurting him pretty bad so we took him out.' Donovan received treatment but did not have an x-ray after the game. He is considered day to day. 'I was running around in the outfield, and it just started bugging me, and then it kind of just got progressively worse, and then it just got real grumpy at me,' Donovan said. Donovan said that there wasn't one moment that he hurt it, that it was more of a repetitive use injury. 'It's on my left foot, so kind of that foot that I tend to rotate off of,' Donovan said. 'I think that's kind of what led to me coming out of the game. … Just kind of sleep on it, reevaluate it tomorrow, and then go from there.' It would be a blow to the Cardinals if Donovan misses any time. Donovan won a Gold Glove as a rookie in 2022 and is putting together his best season at the plate hitting .310 with four home runs and 26 RBIs as the No. 3 batter in the St. Louis order. 'Donny's a big part of what we're about here,' Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas said. 'You know, the way he can move around the diamond and obviously, you know, be a really consistent anchor in that lineup as far as driving the ball and getting on base and driving runs in. You know, that's a bridge we'd have to cross if that happens.' ___ AP MLB: recommended
