MANNY Pacquiao found an opponent way younger and stands 6-foot-tall tough to solve.
The 45-year-old boxing icon failed to put away Japanese kickboxer Rukiya Anpo in their three-round exhibition match that went the distance at the Saitama Super Arena Sunday, which ended with no winner declared.
Boxing’s only eight-time world division champion, Pacquiao was favored to dominate his 28-year-old opponent despite seeing action in only his second fight in the last two years.
READ Pedro Taduran stuns Japanese champ to win IBF world title
But to his surprise, Anpo, a former K-1 super-lightweight champion, looked unfazed and engaged the legendary fighter in exciting toe-to-toe exchanges.
Anpo wisely used his length and reach advantage to keep Pacquiao at bay, oftentimes scoring with that long jab for most of the three rounds.
The Filipino scored on several punching flurries but didn’t seemed to faze the Japanese fighter.
Both Pacquiao and Anpo came out firing in the final round as they threw caution to the wind, with the Japanese kickboxer at one time appearing to hurt the Filipino southpaw with a left hand.
In the absence of a knockout, the fight ended in a draw before a huge crowd that included boxing star Ryan Garcia.
The exhibition match was Pacquiao’s first since scoring a unanimous decision against Korean martial artist DK Yoo in a similar exhibition bout in Seoul in 2022.
Will Barrios fight push through?
Prior to the Anpo match, the Pacquiao camp disclosed plans of challenging Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight belt later this year.
No announcement has yet been made if the Filipino boxing great will continue to pursue the title match given the way Pacquiao performed against Anpo.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
