Manny Pacquiao‘s team have been deep in negotiations for a return to the sport against WBC Welterweight Champion Mario Barrios.
The Filipino fighting legend would, should he fight and beat Barrios, break a record he set back in 2019 to be the oldest world champion in the division.
Now 45, there have been concerns that the fight shouldn’t be sanctioned but the WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman backed the idea provided the 45-year-old could pass medical checks.
“Over the next month or so, we’ll either be able to make the fight or won’t. … It’s very important to get a fight in by December. This is a very important time right now. We have a very short window. This could be the last year because Manny might run for office next year in the Philippines.”
In the meantime, Pacquiao returned to the ring in Japan for an exhibition against kickboxer Rukiya Anpo. Granted Anpo had a significant reach and height advantage, but even still ‘PacMan’ looked every bit his age over the course of the three rounds.
Fans took to social media to beg him to reconsider the professional comeback after seeing how he fared, with one saying he looked ‘100 years old’ in the ring and another saying that a world title shot at this stage was ‘laughable.’
There were flashes of Pacquiao’s skill in the bout, which ended in a draw as most exhibitions do, but he was being caught by Anpo much too often and drawn into more a fight than he had perhaps prepared for.
The performance was branded ’embarrassing’ by a viewer on social media and the future Hall of Famer was, by many, urged to reconsider his future plans and ‘stay retired.’
Post-fight, Pacquiao said Anpo was ‘strong and fights well even though he lacks experience,’ before qualifying it with ‘he’s also way bigger than me.’ He admitted he had a lot to work on should the Barrios plans be realised.
