Manny Pacquiao and Freddie Roach have reignited their iconic partnership for what could be the final time.
‘Pac-Man’ is due to make a shock return to the professional ranks on July 19 when he faces reigning WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The 46-year-old from the Philippines has not fought as a professional since he was comprehensively outpointed by former WBA welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas back in June 2021.
It was revealed earlier in the month that Pacquiao would be trained once again by Roach, who worked with the Filipino icon for 34 of his professional fights over a 16-year period.
Speaking to Boxing Scene prior to Pacquiao’s comeback being made official, Roach claimed that he would have preferred not to see the 46-year-old make a return to the sport, claiming he has already been ‘great’ for boxing.
“I really don’t want to see him make a comeback, because I think he’s already been great. He’s already done everything he can do. But he says, ‘I just have one more in me.’ He says, ‘Yeah, I just want to show the world that I was for real and I am for real.'”
However he reveals it was a visit from Pacquiao’s wife that changed his mind and made him think he can lace up the gloves one last time.
“One day, he came down to a show near here, and he sat with me, and his wife sat with me. And the most unusual thing that happened that day was that his wife said she wants to see him in one more fight. I’ve never seen that. I’ve never heard that or seen that from her in any aspect. You know, she was always ‘Retire. Retire. Retire.’ But we’re sitting at ringside and she says, ‘I think he’s ready for that last fight.’
And then they asked me, ‘Who do you pick?’ I said, ‘We’re going for one fight. We’re going for the best fight.’ It’s somebody that he can dominate. And I think that he can do it.”
Pacquiao could make history by becoming the oldest world welterweight champion in boxing history, a record that he currently holds himself after he defeated Keith Thurman to capture the WBA welterweight crown in 2019 when he was 40-years-old.
