Pacquiao is the most powerful boxer in recorded history. Pacquiao vs. Cotto.

I have yet to see all of the world's future professional boxers, so I cannot honestly say that Pacquiao is the greatest of all times. What I can say is this: he is the most powerful professional boxer in world history.

For a man to come from nothing, from poverty to win seven titles in seven weight classes is unheard of. It is abnormal. It is legendary. And because of Cotto's defeat, Philippines will now be known for something else aside from Imelda Marcos' shoes.  But back to my main point, I consider Pacquiao the most powerful professional boxer in known history not only because of his speed and his strength in the ring, but because he managed to influence an entire nation of 80 million people to stop fighting for a moment and unite for peace. Such power cannot be measured by mere analysis of boxing techniques and pay per view subscriber counts.

Just to name a few things that Pacquiao had indirect influence of:

• Typhoon victims ignored their problems and were happy to see their champion win. 
• Muslim and communist rebels laid down their guns to watch the fight.  The Moro Islamic Liberation Front even commented that the fight would have been long over if Cotto didn't run away.
  
• A few days ago, an Irish priest that was kidnapped was released without a ransom paid out because the kidnappers grew tired of him and wanted to watch the Pacquiao fight.

Do you know of any other boxer past or present that's able to command such respect that even ideological hatred is ignored?

But above all of these factors I named off, there is one main aspect of Pacquiao that I consider the best power of all: his ability to stay meek and humble despite the world grasping for his attention.  He was only around 19 years old when I met him flying over the Pacific, and I'm amazed that his personality is exactly the same.