The only eight-division world champion in the history of boxing, Manny Pacquiao’s legacy is truly cemented, and he will be regarded as an all-time great for years to come. However, ‘Pac-Man’ has been rumoured to be making a comeback to the sport in an attempt to further improve upon his phenomenal accomplishments, and after displaying his current hand-speed, it is easy to see why.
Winning a first world title in the flyweight division in 1997, Pacquiao was able to achieve continued success as far as super-welterweight, where he outpointed Antonio Margarito for the WBC crown at 154lbs in 2010.
After losing out to Floyd Mayweather in ‘The Fight of the Century’, Pacquiao continued to operate at welterweight for the remainder of his career and defeated both Jessie Vargas and Keith Thurman for the WBO and WBA world titles respectively, the last of which he won at 40-years-old – making him the oldest welterweight champion of all-time.
Yet, after defeating Thurman in 2019, Pacquiao underwent a two-year spell of inactivity, during which time he became the only fighter to have held world titles in four different decades, but he did not look the same when he came back and lost to Yordenis Ugas.
Three years on from that hard-to-watch performance, Pacquiao is once again being rumoured with a comeback and made his ring return back in July in an exhibition against Rukiya Anpo – unfortunately, the now 45-year-old failed to impress once again.
Although they have quietened down since that exhibition, there are rumours that the three-time Ring magazine Fighter of the Year will return to the professional ring and face Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight title, recently telling ESPN of his goal to finish his career in style.
“I made history at 40 beating Keith Thurman and I feel at 45, I have a lot left in the game as I haven’t taken a lot of punishment over the last few years,”
“I want to go out making history.”
With the newfound investment from Saudi Arabia, there is every chance that Barrios-Pacquiao could still take place, and the hopeful veteran has now been seen shadowboxing and displaying mind-boggling hand speed despite his age.
https://www.twitter.com/MichaelBensonn/status/1853123654336369035
For now, Barrios will instead proceed with a fight against WBC #8 Abel Ramos on the Paul-Tyson undercard later this month, but Pacquiao remains hopeful that he could face the Texan in 2025.
Boxing Social is now on WhatsApp! Join our channel by clicking here and getting all the latest boxing news direct to your phone.