Manny Pacquiao's domination of Lehlohonolo Lebwaba in 2001 signaled his true arrival on the world stage. (Photo via sports.espn.go.com)

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In preparation for this weekend's super fight between WBO welterweight titlist Miguel Cotto and world junior welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, Bad Left Hook will look back on the major title fight histories of both men.

This morning, we looked at Miguel Cotto. Now, a glance at Manny Pacquiao.

We are considering only fights for the Ring Magazine championships, as well as the titles of the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF.

December 4, 1998: Manny Pacquiao KO-8 Chatchai Sasakul (WBC Flyweight Title)

Really one of the more underrated wins of Pacquiao's long, amazing career. Sasakul was one of those Thai fighters whose resume wasn't the strongest in terms of opponents, but the man could certainly fight. After Pacquiao, he boxed another ten years (last fighting in November 2008), and never beat another major opponent. When interviewed by The Sweet Science, Sasakul remembered Pacquiao as the best puncher he ever faced:

TSS: You’ve fought in both boxing and Muay Thai and fought more than 150 times. Who would you rate as the best puncher you’ve faced?

Chatchai Sasakul: Manny Pacquiao!!! One good punch from him and I was out. He has very heavy hands.

TSS: What happened in that fight? You were schooling him until you got caught with a few good shots.

Chatchai Sasakul: I lost my focus I guess and he took advantage of it. I don’t remember much about that fight (laughing)!

April 24, 1999: Manny Pacquiao TKO-4 Gabriel Mira (WBC Flyweight Title)

Go back and watch this fight now. It's amazing for a couple of reasons. First, even though he hadn't really developed his body and was but a 20-year-old kid at flyweight, it's hard to not notice that Pacquiao was huge as a flyweight. It's again more incredible to me that he won titles at flyweight than it is that he won the championship at 140 when I look at him now and look back at him then. The second amazing thing: How limited Pacquiao was. He was a totally one-handed fighter, pretty bad defensively, and just raw as all hell. Mira (19-7-1, 15 KO coming in) got Pacquiao in some early trouble, but was banged out in the fourth under a furious Pacquiao assault.

September 17, 1999: Medgoen Singsurat KO-3 Manny Pacquiao (WBC Flyweight Title)

Singsurat was Pacquiao's last fight at 112 pounds, and for good reason. Singsurat ran Pacquiao ragged, never relented on pressure, and knocked him out with a third round body shot. Manny was awful in this fight. I don't think this loss really means much of anything anymore. In fact, I don't think any of Pacquiao's losses really mean much of anything anymore. Pacquiao skipped 115 and 118, going straight up to 122. If you really think about that, a full three-class jump seems crazy, but it wound up working out OK.

June 23, 2001: Manny Pacquiao TKO-6 Lehlohonolo Ledwaba (IBF Junior Featherweight Title)

Pacquiao's true coming out party. On the Oscar de la Hoya-Javier Castillejo undercard, Pacquiao took on the South African titlist Ledwaba and ripped him apart. Ledwaba was never the same after the loss to Pacquiao, although to his credit he hardly went to fighting a bunch of bums or anything. He took over a year out of the ring after losing to Pacquiao, after having fought in both February and April of 2001 before meeting the rising Filipino slugger.

November 10, 2001: Manny Pacquiao TD-6 Agapito Sanchez (IBF, WBO Junior Featherweight Titles)

A really dirty fight, with Sanchez getting docked two points for low blows. The bout was stopped after six on a Pacquiao cut, caused by an accidental headbutt in the second round and made worse with another headbutt in the sixth. Without the two points for the low blows, Pacquiao would have been dealt a loss here. The scores after six were 58-54 Pacquiao, 57-55 Sanchez and 56-56. Even one of those points back would have given Sanchez a win.

June 8, 2002: Manny Pacquiao TKO-2 Jorge Eliecer Julio (IBF Junior Featherweight Title)

"This is some prospect, Bobby. To me he's every bit as exciting as Prince Naseem Hamed." -- Jim Lampley, 2002

Pacquiao was featured on the Lewis-Tyson undercard with this fight, a pretty heavy beating of a veteran contender. Julio was on the downswing, having lost to Johnny Tapia and Adan Vargas in recent fights, and Pacquiao destroyed him. Julio would fight once more, losing a 10th-round TKO to Israel Vazquez in 2003.

We get into the meat of Pacquiao's title fight career after the jump.

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Miguel Cotto's first major title came to him with a shredding of Kelson Pinto back in 2004. (Photo via a.espncdn.com)

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In preparation for this weekend's super fight between WBO welterweight titlist Miguel Cotto and world junior welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, Bad Left Hook will look back on the major title fight histories of both men.

Pacquiao's is very interesting (and perhaps a bit more limited than you might expect, as he wasn't always fighting for major titles), and Cotto's is really strong, and might hopefully wake people up to the fact that maybe, just maybe, Miguel Cotto isn't some schlub that the mighty Pacquiao will bulldoze past.

We are considering only fights for the Ring Magazine championships, as well as the titles of the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF.

September 11, 2004: Miguel Cotto TKO-6 Kelson Pinto (Vacant WBO Junior Welterweight Title)

Cotto was 20-0 at the time, and the Brazilian Pinto was a perfect 21-0 with 19 knockouts. Also take into account that Pinto had twice beaten Cotto when the two were amateurs, and this one was no gimme. Pinto, a shade under six feet tall and huge at 140 pounds, was ripped to pieces by the Puerto Rican machine. He was wobbled early, knocked down in the second, and when he was floored again 32 seconds into the sixth round, his corner mercifully halted an entirely one-sided beatdown. Pinto landed 11% of his punches in the fight and could stop nothing Cotto threw at him.

For those that think Cotto's post-Margarito career is what it looks like when a guy has been beaten up bad and "lost it," it's not. It's Pinto after Cotto. The Brazilian fought four more times, winning three of them against guys who had a combined three fights between them, and losing a technical decision to Vince Phillips. Pinto's last fight came in 2006.

December 11, 2004: Miguel Cotto TKO-6 Randall Bailey (WBO Junior Welterweight Title)

Bailey, who's still around with his cannon right hand keeping him in the game, was stopped on cuts. Cotto put him on the canvas twice. Bailey's never had a chin, and like Pinto he couldn't find any way to slow Cotto.

February 26, 2005: Miguel Cotto TKO-5 DeMarcus Corley (WBO Junior Welterweight Title)

A more contested fight than Pinto or Bailey, as Corley came out and traded shots with Cotto early. Corley disputed the fifth round stoppage, saying it was early. Both fighters were docked points for low blows and Corley hit the canvas three times. Corley's complaining about the stoppage is also a bit questionable itself, as he willingly took a knee under heavy assault, which prompted the referee to stop the bout.

June 11, 2005: Miguel Cotto TKO-9 Mohamed Abdullaev (WBO Junior Welterweight Title)

Abdullaev was another old amateur foe of Cotto's. The former Olympic gold medalist took Cotto out of the competition in the first round at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. As with Pinto, Cotto got his revenge in the pro ring. Abdullaev had some success against Cotto, but ultimately had his eye swollen so badly that he couldn't continue.

September 24, 2005: Miguel Cotto KO-7 Ricardo Torres (WBO Junior Welterweight Title)

In my view, the most underrated, overlooked great fight of the decade. Sure, those that saw it know it's a great one, but it rarely comes up too quickly when discussing the great scraps of the 2000s.

Cotto and the ultra powerful Torres went toe-to-toe in a vicious battle, and though Cotto had eaten some good leather from previous foes (particularly Corley and Abdullaev), he had never faced someone as strong or good offensively as Torres.

Torres went down on a left hook in round one, but roared back to start an assault that culminated with a knockdown of the Puerto Rican in round two. Cotto somehow survived the storm. A body shot knocked Torres down again in the fourth, and though the Colombian never stopped swinging for the fences, the momentum had absolutely shifted. Torres hit the mat again in the sixth, and for a fourth and final time in the seventh. An overjoyed Cotto struck the famous celebration pose in the photo to the right. It was a phenomenal fight, all action to say the least.

March 4, 2006: Miguel Cotto TKO-8 Gianluca Branco (WBO Junior Welterweight Title)

The Italian veteran Branco, 35 at the time of this fight, was mostly known in the States for giving Arturo Gatti a pretty decent fight in 2004. Cotto dominated seven rounds, and Branco pulled out 49 seconds into the eighth with a shoulder injury.

June 10, 2006: Miguel Cotto UD-12 Paulie Malignaggi (WBO Junior Welterweight Title)

To be stereotypical, Paulie Malignaggi never looked like a tough guy, never really acted like one, and certainly didn't (and doesn't) punch like one, at least by pro boxer standards. But there's a lot more John Wayne in Malignaggi than meets the eye, and that's what we found out with this fight. Malignaggi wound up with a fractured right orbital bone and a pretty serious jaw injury, and overall took a fairly horrific beating from Cotto. But the New Yorker did not back down, and both men came out of an exciting, dramatic fight bigger stars than they were before. Cotto won an unanimous decision, the first time in a major title fight he was taken the distance.

We continue with Cotto's welterweight career after the jump.

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Primo Carnera (right) suffered his share of losses to much smaller men. (Photo via www.boxingforum.com)

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When David Haye climbs into the ring later today to take on WBA heavyweight titlist Nikolai Valuev, he'll be looking to make history as best I can tell.

Should Haye win the fight, he will have set a record for overcoming the largest official weight difference in notable heavyweight boxing history. Just a quick scan of some famous fights and other notable bouts shows that Haye's 98-pound disadvantage tomorrow would top the record that Ruslan Chagaev set when he beat Valuev in 2007.

Now, I might be wrong, but I'm fairly sure I'm not. If David Haye can beat Valuev tomorrow, he will have made some form of history, no matter how frivolous it really is in the grand scheme of things.

One note of course: Valuev isn't just heavy, he's seven feet tall. Some of the guys on this chart were giants for their time, such as Primo Carnera (6'5 1/2"), but the height differential tomorrow is quite enormous, too. Jack Sharkey, who beat Carnera while giving up 59 pounds, was about 6'0". Max Baer was 6'2 1/2", and Joe Louis was 6'2". They gave up very little height to Carnera. Jack Dempsey's very famous win over Jess Willard was similar -- Willard was a massive 6'6 1/2", while Dempsey was also quite a big man at 6'1".

Haye, at about 6'3", gives up a lot more height than those guys did. Valuev has often beern compared to some of these guys, relative to the eras. Like Carnera, many have seen him as a lumbering lummox with no appreciable skill, but I'd actually say he's a far better boxer than Carnera was.

Here are some of the notable fights Haye over Valuev would top. (Notes: The biggest weight differential loss of Carnera's career was actually 68 pounds to Larry Gains in 1932, and I included Holmes-Butterbean mostly for fun.)

Arguably the most controversial win in the career of Oscar de la Hoya came on April 12, 1997, when the undefeated, barely 24-year old "Golden Boy" squared off with future Hall of Famer Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker, the former lightweight champ and junior welterweight titlist who by then was WBC welterweight titleholder.

Whitaker came into the fight with a 40-1-1 record, the loss and draw both dubious at the very least. Many felt he he deserved a perfect record, and still many believed so after his fight with Oscar.

Oscar was 23-0 at the time, a budding phenomenon five years past his stirring rise to fame as a gold medalist at the 1992 Olympic games in Barcelona. He already had several wins over good to very good fighters, but Whitaker promised to be his toughest test ever, and after titles at 130, 135 and 140, he was moving up in weight yet again. How much was too much, too soon?

But was Whitaker still truly great? His defensive mastery had slowed a bit by 1997, as he was 33 years old and time, clearly, was starting to take a toll.

Still, Pernell was regarded by many as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, and Oscar, at least in his own mind, was coming not just to take Whitaker's welterweight title, but that mythical crown as well.

Let's take a look back at one of the more controversially-scored fights of the 1990s, and maybe the most controversial fight of Oscar de la Hoya's entire career. It's been over 12 years, but this one still gets some motors running when the topic comes up.

"Pound for Pound" - WBC Welterweight Title Fight
PERNELL WHITAKER
(40-1-1, 17 KO, WBC Titleholder)
versus
OSCAR DE LA HOYA
(23-0, 20 KO)
April 12, 1997 | Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV
Referee: Mills Lane | Judges: Chuck Giampa, Dalby Shirley and Jerry Roth

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"Sam Langford was the toughest little son of a bitch that ever lived." -- Jack Johnson

"The hell I feared no man. There was one man I wouldn’t fight because I knew he would flatten me. I was afraid of Sam Langford." -- Jack Dempsey

In the annals of boxing history, you have fighters whose iconic names live on forever, gathering acclaim over the decades. Johnson and Dempsey, Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Robinson, and so on and so forth.

But then you have the other names. The men whose due was not given them in their own time, whose legend grows first with research, then in an almost mythical nature. Sam Langford is one of those.

Langford (181-34-38, 128 KO) stood no more than 5 feet, 7 inches. He fought lightweights, and made his way all the way up to the heavyweight ranks. Abe Attell once named Langford the greatest middleweight to ever live, and while a debatable point, it can easily be argued that Langford was, in fact, that level of fighter.

His punching power is legendary. Of that power, Harry Wills once remarked, "When Sam hit you in the body, you’d kind of look around half expecting to see his glove sticking out of your back. When he hit you on the chin, you didn’t think at all until they brought you back to life. When he knocked me out in New Orleans, I thought I’d been killed."

Keep in mind, Wills was a 6'2", legitimate heavyweight, and an all-time great at that.

Clay Moyle's book, Sam Langford: Boxing's Greatest Uncrowned Champion, collects all of the greatest stories of Langford's globetrotting, take-any-fight career, one that to this day is sadly underrated. It's a fascinating study of a man and his desire to defy not only odds, but the sheer fear of him that existed in so many of his contemporaries. His chase of Jack Johnson is gripping, even when you know that Jack never wanted to get back in the ring with him after one meeting left him discouraged.

How could a man so small in stature have been so devastating? The legendary Ring Magazine editor Nat Fleischer ranked Langford as the seventh-best puncher of all-time. Often he only got fights because he promised to take it easy on opponents. Had he lived in even a slightly different time, Langford could have been world champion at 135, 147, 160, 175 and heavyweight. Really think about that -- it was a different world in so many ways.

Moyle's story of Langford's career is incredibly detailed, painstakingly researched, and leaves nothing out. Langford's story is remarkable enough, but Moyle brings it to life in such a way that I found myself emotionally invested in the career of a man whose last fight came in 1926, three years before my grandfather was born.

If you don't know the story of Sam Langford yet, or even if you do, I couldn't recommend the book more highly. It can be purchased at SamLangford.com.

The 1981 Ring Magazine Fight of the Year between then-welterweight and junior middleweight world champion Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas "Hitman" Hearns demanded a rematch as soon as it ended.

It took eight years, two Leonard retirements, and some bumps in the road for Hearns for one to come about.

After Leonard stopped Hearns in a dramatic 14th round in '81, he retired in '82 due to a detached retina, made an aborted comeback in '84, and then came back again in '87, beating Marvin Hagler for the middleweight championship and then moving up to a 168-pound catchweight to beat a drained Donny Lalonde, winning Lalonde's 175-pound title and the WBC's vacant super middleweight title in one fell swoop.

Hearns was stunned in the 1988 Upset of the Year against Iran Barkley, and had also done battle with Hagler, losing the classic three-round war of 1985.

It took a lot of money ($13 million to Leonard, $11 million to Hearns, as was reported at the time) and a lot of criticism for this fight to come about. Many felt that Leonard only took the rematch because he deemed Hearns a shot fighter and a non-threat to him, but Leonard himself said publicly that he felt Hearns' obsession with getting revenge for the 1981 loss would make him dangerous enough.

The rematch came. Hearns was now 30 years old, Leonard 33. They fought for a super middleweight title, with Hearns weighing in at 162. The official scores were 113-112 Leonard, 113-112 Hearns, and 112-112, a draw. To this day, many feel Hearns deserved the win. Let's take a look back at this still-debated fight between these two legends, with a round-by-round breakdown of the action.

"The War" - WBC & WBO Super Middleweight Title Unification - Rematch
SUGAR RAY LEONARD (35-1, 25 KO, WBC Titleholder)
versus
THOMAS HEARNS (46-3, 38 KO, WBO Titleholder)
June 12, 1989 | Caesars Palace - Las Vegas, NV

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I wound up having a lot of fun doing the first Classic Round-by-Round (Castillo-Mayweather I) about a week and a half ago, and I'm hoping to make it a regular feature, especially when you have what promises to be a slow period for news like the one we're in right now. I also want to do fights people want to discuss and would welcome everyone else's scoring when the posts are up and all that, so I thought I'd take a few fights I was considering and see what comes out on top, so indulge me, and if you feel really strongly about any one fight, say so.

The most debated fight in Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s undefeated career is unquestionably his first bout with Jose Luis Castillo on April 20, 2002. Mayweather was 27-0 and moving up to 135 pounds for the first time, where Castillo (45-4-1, 41 KO at the time) held the WBC's title. Their rematch a few months later would decide the Ring Magazine lightweight championship, crowning Mayweather as the division's first Ring champion since Pernell Whitaker moved up to 140 pounds in 1992.

When Mayweather goes on and on about his flawless pro record, a lot of detractors point to this very fight as a gift from the judges. To this day, Floyd haters and Floyd admirers alike call this his toughest fight ever, and to most people, it's the only one you can even argue that he just might have lost.

This is also one of the most controversial fights of the decade, famous for a mid-fight Larry Merchant rant against Vic Drakulich and the fact that it seemed then and now that the vast majority of the public scored this fight for Castillo. I dare not to offer any "definitive" opinion, just one of a million.

I've had several people ask me if doing a round-by-round for classic fights ever crossed my mind, and it has. I figure now's as good a time as any to start.

Round 1

Larry Merchant praises Mayweather's wins over Genaro Hernandez and Diego Corrales before the bell, and wonders if Castillo's nine-pound advantage in the ring will be a factor.

Mayweather dominates the opening minute with speed, Castillo landing nothing of note. Floyd moves all over the ring fluidly, taking Castillo on a tour of their work space for the night. Floyd sneaks in a few shots in the second minute, nothing notable, but Castillo does very little and almost refuses to be the aggressor.

Castillo swings a big left uppercut a couple times, looking to counter with it, but can't find it. Easy round to score for Mayweather. Castillo's nose is bloodied at the end of round one.

Mayweather 10-9

Round 2

Mayweather's corner: Roger, Rafael Garcia, and Leonard Ellerbe. All these years later, still the same.

Floyd swings a left hook, Castillo goes down, but it's ruled a slip. Big clash of heads with 1:54 remaining in the round, both men hurt by it, slight cut on Mayweather. Floyd still moving, still waiting for JLC to set him up with counter opportunities, and finding himself waiting longer than any counter-puncher really wants to. At some point, somebody's gotta do something, and a guy like Floyd hates to lead the dance more than just about anything.

Quick right hand by Mayweather as Castillo slowly lunges at him. Nearly happens again in the exact same spot of the ring. It's a curious first two rounds for Jose Luis Castillo, who is being dominated at this point.

Mayweather 10-9

Round 3

George Foreman agrees with the Mayweather corner: Keep jabbing, stay away from the ropes. So within moments, Mayweather gets himself on the ropes, but he slips away without taking a shot. Floyd jabbing to the body. Castillo missing just about everything. Mayweather continues slipping and jabbing, Castillo keeps trying to find a chance to get Floyd pinned somewhere and do some work. Castillo with a left to the body, and then a right to the head. Castillo misses a roundhouse right near the bell. Could be scored a Floyd round, but he landed nothing of significance whatsoever. Castillo landed the two best punches of the round.

I rarely score even rounds, but this was one.

Even 10-10

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