Manny Pacquiao set the record as the oldest ever welterweight champion in 2019.
He wanted another world title before hanging up the gloves and his options at the weight included both WBC Champion Shawn Porter and the WBA’s Keith Thurman. ‘PacMan’ opted to face Thurman rather than former sparring partner Porter, who would lose his belt to Errol Spence Jr in his next outing.
Now, the 45-year-old from the Philippines is looking to break his own record by returning to the ring to face new WBC champ, Mario Barrios. The sanctioning body is behind the fight if he passes a medical and negotiations are ramping up to make something happen before the end of the year.
Porter, now comfortably retired himself and enjoying life as an analyst, said on his podcast that Pacquiao’s recent exhibition performance was enough to see that he was a shadow of his former dedicated self.
“When I turned it on and I saw how thick Manny looked I said well he hasn’t been working. Then when you see him getting hit with shots that we know back in the day he would’ve batted down or moved out of the way, his eyes aren’t right. That’s because he hasn’t been training.
Then we see him missing shots that he would’ve hit guys with two or three times. We can never expect him to be the old Pac, but when you ain’t working on it, you ain’t coming close to anything that you think you can do on fight night.”
Porter went on to say that a fight against Barrios, 29-years-old with a record of 31-2, was dangerous.
“And I’m like, no, just stop. You’re not training the way you used to train so you’re never gonna fight the way you used to fight. And on top of that age is setting in. There’s no way in hell we could ever expect you to get in the ring with a Mario Barrios and dazzle us the way you used to, or even come close to it. That’s a dangerous fight for him at this point.”
