The Most Famous
BOXERS from Philippines
This page contains a list of the greatest Filipino Boxers. The pantheon dataset contains 326 Boxers, 6 of which were born in Philippines. This makes Philippines the birth place of the 14th most number of Boxers behind Hungary and Armenia.
Top 6
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Filipino Boxers of all time. This list of famous Filipino Boxers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Manny Pacquiao (1978 - )
With an HPI of 54.23, Manny Pacquiao is the most famous Filipino Boxer. His biography has been translated into 62 different languages on wikipedia.
Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao (locally [pɐkˈjaʊ]; born December 17, 1978) is a Filipino politician and former professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He previously served as a senator of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. Pacquiao is the only eight-division world champion in the history of boxing and has won twelve major world titles. He was the first boxer to win the lineal championship in five different weight classes, the first boxer to win major world titles in four of the eight "glamour divisions" (flyweight, featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight), and is the only boxer to hold world championships across four decades (1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s). In July 2019, Pacquiao became the oldest welterweight world champion in history at the age of 40, and the first boxer in history to become a recognized four-time welterweight champion after defeating Keith Thurman to win the WBA (Super) welterweight title. As of 2015, Pacquiao's fights had generated $1.2 billion in revenue from his 25 pay-per-view bouts. According to Forbes, he was the second highest paid athlete in the world in 2012 and 2015, and the eighth highest paid athlete of the 2010s. Pacquiao entered politics in 2010 when he was elected as the representative of Sarangani. He held this post for six years until he was elected and assumed office as a senator in 2016. He became the leader of then-ruling PDP–Laban party in 2020 (which is disputed since 2021). On September 19, 2021, Pacquiao officially declared his candidacy for President of the Philippines in the 2022 Philippine presidential election; he ended up losing to Bongbong Marcos. Outside of boxing and politics, Pacquiao was the head coach and a player for the Philippine Basketball Association team Kia/Mahindra for three seasons from 2014 to 2017, before founding the semi-professional Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League. He has also starred in films and has presented television shows. In music, he has released multiple PARI-certified platinum albums and songs; his cover of "Sometimes When We Touch" peaked at 19 in the United States on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart after a performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. He is an Evangelical Christian preacher, philanthropist, and entrepreneur.
2. Francisco Guilledo (1901 - 1925)
With an HPI of 42.76, Francisco Guilledo is the 2nd most famous Filipino Boxer. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Francisco Villaruel Guilledo (August 1, 1901 – July 14, 1925), more commonly known as Pancho Villa, was a Filipino professional boxer. Villa, who stood only 5 feet and 1 inch (154 cm) tall and never weighed more than 114 pounds (51 kg), despite the racial discrimination of that time, rose from obscurity to become the first Asian to win the World Flyweight Championship in 1923, earning the reputation in some quarters as one of the greatest Flyweight boxers in history. He was never knocked out in his entire boxing career, which ended with his sudden death at only twenty-three from complications following a tooth extraction.
3. Gabriel Elorde (1935 - 1985)
With an HPI of 37.93, Gabriel Elorde is the 3rd most famous Filipino Boxer. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Gabriel "Flash" Elorde (March 25, 1935 – January 2, 1985) was a Filipino professional boxer. He won the lineal super featherweight title in 1960. In 1963, he won the inaugural WBC and WBA super featherweight titles. He holds the record at super featherweight division for the longest title reign, spanning seven years. Elorde is considered one of the best Filipino boxers of all time along with eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao and Pancho Villa, flyweight champion in the 1920s. He was much beloved in the Philippines as a sports and cultural icon, being the first Filipino international boxing champion since middleweight champion Ceferino Garcia.
4. Nonito Donaire (1982 - )
With an HPI of 33.75, Nonito Donaire is the 4th most famous Filipino Boxer. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Nonito Gonzales Donaire Jr. ( do-NAIR; Tagalog: [noˈnito gonˈsalɛs doˈnaɪre]; born November 16, 1982) is a Filipino American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in four weight classes from flyweight to featherweight, and is the oldest boxer in history to win a bantamweight world title (at age 38), as well as being the first three-time champion in that weight class. Donaire has also held world championships in three consecutive decades: the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s, being the sixth boxer to do so after Evander Holyfield, Manny Pacquiao, Bernard Hopkins, Erik Morales, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. In total, Donaire has held nine world titles by the main four boxing sanctioning bodies. He has also held the International Boxing Organization (IBO) flyweight title, the World Boxing Association (WBA) interim super flyweight title, and the Ring magazine and lineal super bantamweight titles. Donaire is popularly known as "The Filipino Flash" and is a two-time winner of The Ring's Knockout of the Year award, in 2007 and 2011. He reached a peak pound for pound ranking of third by The Ring in 2011, and was named Fighter of the Year in 2012 by the Boxing Writers Association of America.
5. Mansueto Velasco (1974 - )
With an HPI of 21.17, Mansueto Velasco is the 5th most famous Filipino Boxer. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.
Mansueto "Onyok" Velasco Jr. (born January 10, 1974) is a Filipino retired boxer, comedian and actor from Bago, Negros Occidental, Philippines. Competing in the 48 kg category he won a gold medal at the 1994 Asian Games and a silver at the 1996 Summer Olympics, the Philippines' only medal at those Games. He is the younger brother of Roel Velasco, a light-flyweight boxer who won a bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
6. Nesthy Petecio (1992 - )
With an HPI of 14.74, Nesthy Petecio is the 6th most famous Filipino Boxer. Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Nesthy "Nesh" Alcayde Petecio, OLY (born April 11, 1992) is a Filipino amateur boxer. She won a silver medal in the inaugural women's featherweight event at the 2020 Summer Olympics, becoming the first Filipino woman to win an Olympic medal in boxing. She also won a silver medal at the 2014 World Championships and gold at the 2019 edition.
Pantheon has 6 people classified as boxers born between 1901 and 1992. Of these 6, 4 (66.67%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living boxers include Manny Pacquiao, Nonito Donaire, and Mansueto Velasco. The most famous deceased boxers include Francisco Guilledo and Gabriel Elorde. As of April 2022, 2 new boxers have been added to Pantheon including Gabriel Elorde and Nesthy Petecio.
Living Boxers
Go to all Rankings
Manny Pacquiao
1978 - Present
HPI: 54.23
Nonito Donaire
1982 - Present
HPI: 33.75
Mansueto Velasco
1974 - Present
HPI: 21.17
Nesthy Petecio
1992 - Present
HPI: 14.74
