Manny Pacquiao calls fighter ‘best knockout artist’ in boxing history

Manny Pacquiao gave a rather unexpected, but no less valid, answer when asked to name who he thinks is the greatest knockout artist in history.

The sport has, of course, been graced by a selection of very fierce punchers over the years, with Pacquiao himself considered a particularly powerful operator in his prime.

One of the Filipino’s most brutal stoppages, it must be said, came against Ricky Hatton in 2009, when a crushing left hook brought proceedings to a halt in the second round.

But beyond “Pac Man”, many will argue that the heavyweight division is fertile ground for such monstrous finishers.including Mike Tyson, George Foreman, Earnie Shavers and even Deontay Wilder.

When it comes to the lower weight classes, it would appear that Julian Jackson, Sugar Ray Robinson, Gerald McClellan and Gennady Golovkin are among those who repeatedly pop up in conversations surrounding the art of the destructive knockout.

And yet, someone who is perhaps less present in such discussions, but nonetheless worth mentioning, is the pound-for-pound legend. Julius Caesar Chavez.

Ending his extraordinary career with 85 knockouts in 115 fights, the former three-weight world champion has certainly left a considerable mark in the featherweight, lightweight and super-lightweight divisions.

And so, based on those numbers, Pacquiao left himself few options other than to name Chavez as the greatest knockout artist of all time, revealing his selection in a social media interview with OTHER Boxing.

Pacquiao also opined that a prime Floyd Mayweather had the best jab, footwork and defense in boxing history, while suggesting that Juan Manuel Marquez, another of his former opponents, possessed the greatest IQ and chin.