Manny Pacquiao cut legendary foe’s career short due to the damage he inflicted ahead of grudge match

On this day in 2011, the aftermath of a fight with Manny Pacquiao came back to bite one of his rivals.

The legendary Filipino fighter has faced four different opponents on more than one occasion.

Pacquiao’s multiple fights with the likes of Erik Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez became some of the most iconic rivalries in the history of the sport.

We could even see him add another name to that list, with Pacquiao being linked to a rematch with Floyd Mayweather that could potentially happen in 2026.

However, one of the 46-year-old’s greatest wins left his opponent so damaged that any chance of them meeting for a second time was almost entirely off the cards.

Antonio Margarito wasn’t the same when fighting Miguel Cotto after his loss to Manny Pacquiao

In what is regarded as one of Manny Pacquiao’s greatest accomplishments, in November of 2010, he became the first fighter to win a world title in an eighth weight class by beating Antonio Margarito.

The significantly smaller ‘PacMan’ completely dominated the fight and won nearly every round on the scorecard.

Despite saying after the fight that he didn’t want to damage Margarito permanently by putting it on him in the final round, this is exactly what happened.

The Mexican star suffered a broken orbital bone after his right eye was closed, which healed but even after surgery, a large cataract in his eye still led him to having issues with his vision.

Margarito looked to bounce back in his next fight when facing Miguel Cotto in a rematch on December 3 of 2011.

With Cotto having a point to prove after losing the first bout in controversial circumstances, the doctor waved the fight off before the 10th round due to Margarito’s right eye becoming significantly damaged once again.

He retired at just 33 years old after the fight before making a brief return five years later and fighting three more times.

Manny Pacquiao knocked out Miguel Cotto the year before he beat Antonio Margarito

Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito may have both held wins over each other and achieved great careers but one thing neither of them managed to do was beat Manny Pacquiao.

In 2009, the year before he dismantled Margarito, ‘PacMan’ stopped Cotto in the 12th round in another career-defining win.

Following his spectacular run that included both of these wins, Pacquiao suffered back-to-back losses for the only time in his career when he was beaten by Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012.