Over three years ago, Manny Pacquiao made what was his final professional boxing outing for the time being, when he lost a WBA welterweight world title fight against Yordenis Ugas.
The 45-year-old then entered the world of exhibition boxing, similar to his former foe, Floyd Mayweather, where he fought Kung Fu fighter, DK Yoo, winning a unanimous decision.
Earlier this year, Manny Pacquiao returned to the ring for a custom rules fight against kickboxer, Rukiya Anpo at Super RIZIN 3, with fans left disappointed with his performance.
Manny Pacquiao’s promoter teases a controversial return to pro boxing
Despite the fact that he is turning 46 years old later this month, ‘Pac Man’ believes he has one more world title run in him, forgetting his disappointing last outing.
Pacquiao is currently occupied in politics in his home country of the Philippines, as he is set to pursue a political role in 2025.
However, he and his promoter, Sean Gibbons, are still refusing to officially call it a day on what has been an extremely fruitful career, hinting that he may return to the professional boxing scene in 2025, and he is highlighting a welterweight title fight against Mario Barrios.
“He’s running for Senate in the Philippines from February 11 to May 11. If he gets something by January 31, 2025 he’s ready to rumble,” Gibbons told Boxing Scene.
“I don’t know what’s gonna happen after that… With Manny, he could be fighting until he’s 50… Manny didn’t look as good against Anpo because of a lot of things behind the scenes that went into it,” Gibbons commented on the criticism of Pacquiao’s last performance.
“He didn’t overly prepare for it. He thought he was fighting someone else and it ended up being a bigger guy. He felt great. What else can you do? It was an exhibition… I told Manny that the Barrios fight was the perfect fight to make. Things got in the way with certain people in his ear, but that fight is still possible. It could happen in June, July, or August. One last one,” the promoter continued.
Mario Barrios could be set to face Conor Benn
Instead of fighting Pacquiao, Barrios decided to defend his WBC welterweight title against Abel Ramos on the undercard of Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson this past November.
After putting on a tremendous clash, the fight was declared a split-decision draw, with the Texan keeping hold of his title.
Pacquiao may have to wait for a potential fight against ‘El Azteca’, as he is now well and truly in the sights of British power puncher, Conor Benn.
‘The Destroyer’ recently got clearance from the UKAD to fight in the UK following his suspension saga, opening the door up to the highly anticipated fight against Chris Eubank Jr.
However, Benn revealed that instead of pursuing a fight against Eubank Jr, he has instructed his team to make a fight with Barrios.
- LIFE CHANGING: I used to pour beers at a club – now I’m fighting Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue on Christmas Eve and ready to ‘shock the world’