Baquio City: He has sent the fabled Oscar De La Hoya into retirement, dismissed British icon Ricky Hatton in just two rounds, and knocked out celebrated Mexican champions Eric Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera.
To top it all, he's won six world titles in six different divisions, a distinction he shares with no less than De La Hoya himself, and currently reigns as the world's No 1 pound-for-pound fighter.
Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao, however, is desperate to achieve one more milestone to seal his claim as a cut above the rest: win an unprecedented seventh world championship belt.
That seventh world title is what's at stake in his "Firepower" bout against Puerto Rican champion Miguel Cotto on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Pacquiao will be after Cotto's WBO welterweight belt, and if successful he will be the only boxer in the world to win seven titles in seven weight divisions.
Pacquiao also faces the prospect of being the first winner of the WBC Diamond Belt, recently introduced as an "elite" title for fights at catchweight — a mutually agreed weight for two fighters of different classes.
Toughest opponent
Standing in the way of his ambitious goal is a battle-scarred brawler widely regarded as the toughest test in Pacquiao's career.
"There's no doubt in my mind that Cotto will be the most difficult opponent Pacquiao has ever fought," fight promoter Bob Arum tells Gulf News on the sidelines of Pacquiao's training in Baguio City.
Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach concurs: "I believe Cotto's a little tougher because he's naturally a 147-pounder and he's a little bit stronger than most of our opponents. He'll certainly be stronger than Ricky Hatton when Hatton fought Pacquiao."
Hatton relinquished his IBO light-welterweight title after a sensational second-round knockout loss to Pacquiao last May at the same venue where Pacquiao will fight Cotto.
The mega-fight will essentially be a showdown between size and speed. Cotto is expected to be the bigger fighter, while Pacquiao will bank heavily on his speed and rapid-fire punches. Both are known for the tremendous power of their left hand.
"By fight time, Cotto's going to weigh around 160 pounds. He's going to be a little bit bigger than us so we'll use our speed and our boxing ability to beat him," Roach said.
Roach nonetheless predicts a late knockout by Pacquiao. "It's going to be a really hard fight in the beginning, but I have a good game plan and we're going to break him down ... The way Manny Pacquiao is punching right now ... I predict a knockout in the late rounds."
For his part, Arum, who promotes both fighters, has warned Team Pacquiao not to be overconfident.
"This is a fight that can go either away. I've told Manny that," he said.
