Manny Pacquiao still has plenty of fight left in him.
The eight-division champion Pacquiao retired in 2021 shortly after losing a unanimous decision to Yordenis Ugas, and he’s since hit the exhibition trail like many other past-their-prime stars have in recent years.
The 45-year-old Filipino boxing icon will return for another exhibition boxing match on April 20 against muay thai fighter Buakaw Banchamek in Thailand.
Aside from the exhibition against Banchamek, the former eight-division champion Pacquiao has also teased an exhibition with rival Floyd Mayweather and even a run for the 2024 Olympics.
Sean Gibbons, who runs Manny Pacquiao’s promotional company and serves as an agent and advisor for Pacquiao, is equally open to the idea of Pacquiao returning for a professional fight.
“Technically he’s out of retirement,” Gibbons told BoxingScene.com in an interview. “He would love to fight Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia. He’s got about a year left. He just wants to fight. Manny feels that he’s in tremendous shape. He’s training for this exhibition but hopefully that will lead to something bigger and better. I do [see a pro return for Pacquiao]. One of the fights that people talked about for a long time was Manny Pacquiao versus Conor McGregor. That’s something that will be sensational in Saudi Arabia, let’s go. It will be a good place to do it. It’s really simple. His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, [the chairman of the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia], loves big events, and he’s putting on the best events. It’s a very intriguing and fun fight bringing two of the biggest names together in combat sports.”
Pacquiao has been linked to a potential fight with both McGregor and Garcia on and off for the last four years.
In October, Pacquiao stated he’d be open to fighting Davis.
“Gervonta Davis is a good fighter. He’s a good fighter, yeah. If he comes up to 147, we can fight – 145, maybe. That’s not a problem for me. I am an experienced fighter,” said Pacquiao.
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.