Manny Pacquiao is regarded by many as one of the greatest boxers of all time, and now the Filipino legend has named his favourite ever fighter.
Now 44 years of age, Pacquiao has been retired since his last fight against Yordenis Ugas, which handed him his eighth loss of a 72-bout career. In that time he won multiple world championships across eight different weight classes and beat the likes of Ricky Hatton, Timothy Bradley, Keith Thurman and Shane Mosley though famously lost to Flood Mayweather in one of the biggest fights of all time back in 2015.
A huge array of boxing world champions from across the years all gathered at the recent Tyson Fury versus Francis Ngannou event and many clips of them talking to each other have emerged, including Naseem Hamed telling Riddick Bowe he would have lost to Lennox Lewis had they have ever fought.
The latest came from Boxing King Media who caught Pacquiao putting his arm around ‘Prince Naz’ before making a declaration about his preferred pugilist.
“This is my favourite boxer. [Naseem Hamed]”
Hamed then replied with high praise.
“Game changer. Eight times. Eight different weights. He changed our sport forever. It’s the truth.”
While Amir Khan has continued to chase a fight with the legend, right now Pacquiao is negotiating his return to the sport and has outlined his dreams to compete in the Paris Olympics.
For many years in the past, professional boxers have been prohibited from competing in the Olympics although since the 2016 Games in Rio when the IBA made reforms, that rule changed along with the mandate that male athletes must wear protective headgear during bouts. Whether or not Pacquiao is successful in his dreams, time will tell.