Manny Pacquiao may be looking at one final bout to end his boxing career, if reports that have been circulating are true.
The sweet science has been abuzz the past few days about the prospects of Pacquiao, at 46 years old, coming out of retirement to fight reigning champion Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight title belt.
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If this happens, Pacquiao will join a long list of boxers who continue believing that they still have one knockout punch left in them despite being way past their prime, although none of them will admit it.
Mauricio Sulaiman, the WBC president, was the first to announce the projected championship bout during the Canelo Alvarez-William Scull middleweight unification match in Saudi Arabia last May 3.
Sulaiman said the title fight will be on July 19 to be held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. But that date has been booked by Lady Gaga’s ‘The Mayhem Ball’ Tour scheduled on the same venue on July 16, 18, and 19.
No formal confirmation has come from both the Pacquiao and Barrios camps about Sulaiman’s revelation, although there are rumors the eighth-time world division champion is poised to make an announcement shortly after the elections.
Pacman trails
Pacquiao, who is currently running No. 18 (10,206,188) in the partial unofficial tally at posting time, spent the night of the elections playing billiards with a small group of friends amid an atmosphere of uncertainty following what looked like his second straight loss in a major election.
The boxing great also ran for president in 2022 and finished a far third.
Should he decide to climb back into the ring, it will be Pacquiao’s first major fight in four years. He fought Yordenis Ugas of Cuba in August of 2021 for the WBA welterweight crown but lost by unanimous decision.
After the fight, he announced that he was retiring from boxing with a ring record of 62-8-2 (with 39 KOs).
In between, Pacquiao fought two exhibition matches against Korean martial artist DK Yoo and former Japanese kickboxing champion Rukiya Anpo.
His three-round match against Anpo, though, saw the Japanese getting the better of the Filipino although no judges were assigned to score the bout.
Meanwhile, Pacquiao is set to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame as part of the 2025 Class in Canastota, New York next month.
Well this one, at least, will make him a sure winner.
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