Manny Pacquiao has long teased a return to the ring.
The 45-year-old is boxing’s only eight-division world champion and was last out in a bruising loss to Yordenis Ugas in 2021. Prior to that, he fought Keith Thurman in 2019 to become the oldest welterweight champion in history.
Whilst he has stepped through the ropes for exhibitions since and been linked with some spectacle fights, this year his team pursued the more traditional goal of a world title, targetting WBC Welterweight Champion Mario Barrios.
Barrios ultimately went in a different direction, fighting Abel Ramos in Texas on the undercard of Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson and retaining his belt via split draw.
Speaking to Boxing Scene, Pacquiao’s promoter Sean Gibbons believes that the fight can still happen, saying his man is available up until the end of January 2025 before running in the Philippine Senate Election will put boxing on hold for at least a period.
“He’s running for Senate in the Philippines from February 11 to May 11. If he gets something by January 31, 2025 he’s ready to rumble … I told Manny that the Barrios fight was the perfect fight to make. Things got in the way with certain people in his ear, but that fight is still possible. It could happen in June, July, or August – one last one.”
Barrios has been made an offer to defend his belt against Conor Benn. It would be the Brit’s top-level return following a drawn out doping case that saw him unable to fight in the UK for over two years.
Benn has recently had his suspension lifted and is keen to make up for lost time. The Barrios fight tops his list closely followed by a middleweight grudge match against Chris Eubank Jr.
Interestingly, Benn and Pacquiao have also been linked in the past. Whether or not the Filipino fighting legend may look to face the Brit if he can beat Barrios remains to be seen.
