Manny Pacquiao will return to the ring on July 19th against Mario Barrios, but he is now years removed from his fighting prime.
Manny Pacquiao will be 46 years old when he steps into the ring against Mario Barrios, who was born months after Pacquiao turned pro.
Barrios, who fought a war with Batyr Akhmedov, has already beaten Yordenis Ugas, who defeated Pacquiao in the Filipino fighter’s first attempt at a comeback in 2021.
Pacquiao is years removed from his prime fighting days, like in 2006, when he concluded a bitter trilogy once and for all.
Manny Pacquiao KOs Jorge Solis after concluding Erik Morales trilogy in brutal fashion
In 2005, Pacquiao took his first loss in six years as he was beaten by Erik Morales by unanimous decision.
Pacquiao felt drained ahead of the Morales fight due to mandatory drug testing requiring a blood sample, and this became a reason his fight with Mayweather went unmade for years, as he refused to be tested so close to a fight date.
The pair rematched in 2006 in a super-featherweight world title eliminator. Pacquiao won by 10th-round stoppage.
With one win each, everything rested on their third and final encounter. Pacquiao vs Morales 3 stopped crime in Manila for hours, as residents were glued to their screens awaiting the outcome.
Pacquiao didn’t make them wait long, and stopped Morales in the third round.
Just five months after the victory, Pacquiao was in the ring again, against an undefeated 34-0-2 fighter in Jorge Solis.
The fight, billed as ‘Blaze of Glory’ saw Pacquiao suffer a cut, and Solis suffer multiple knockdowns before ending as expected, with another Pacquiao KO.
Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent was three when Pac-Man won his first world title
With a clear age difference, Pacquiao turned pro months before Barrios was even born, and won his first title when Barrios was three years old.
By the time Barrios turned 13, Pacquiao was already a world champion in three divisions.
Whilst one has experience on his side, the other has youth, and it remains to be seen which will trump the other on July 19th.