Manny Pacquiao makes his return to the ring tonight to challenge Mario Barrios for the WBC Welterweight World Title. Two-weight world champion Teofimo Lopez has been in the Filipino’s camp.
Pacquiao has not fought professionally since a 2021 loss to Yordenis Ugas. He faced a man 16 years his junior in Barrios, who was upgraded to full WBC Champion when the belt was vacated by Terence Crawford in June of last year.
At 46-years-old, plus years of inactivity at the top level, many big names in the sport are questioning whether or not Pacquiao has what it takes to break his own record as the oldest 147lbs world champion.
Will he have the snap in his punches? Can his feet move as fast as they once did? Will he have the speed to create angles and avoid the champion’s attacks?
Lopez told ES News the night before the fight that the Filipino legend has absolutely kept his famous speed.
“It’s Manny’s world, we’re just living in it. He’s really fast, man. The videos are not sped up. He’s not human. Not at all. Eight different divisions. I’m looking forward to seeing the type of Manny that I’ve seen already in [camp.] I can’t wait to see it tomorrow night.”
After the training session, Lopez backed Pacquiao ‘to become world champion again.’
Should ‘PacMan’ be able to pull off the upset and be crowned world champion once more, he has hinted that he will then keep competing. All eyes now turn to the MGM Grand, Las Vegas.
