Living legend and all-time great Manny Pacquiao may well fight for another version of a world title later this year; albeit an interim version of a world title. As per Sky Sports, with whom Pac-Man’s guy Sean Gibbons spoke, Pacquiao is looking at fighting Mario Barrios for the WBC interim belt at 147 pounds.
As fans know, Pacquiao, who is now 45 years of age, has not boxed since dropping a decision against Yordenis Ugas back in August of 2021. Since then, Pacquiao has boxed in exhibition form and there has been talk of a full comeback. Now, it looks as though the former multi-weight world champion is close to returning to the ring.
“Manny is looking at that option to fight Mario Barrios. He loves the idea of finishing his career by winning the WBC title. That was his first belt way back,” Gibbons said. “So over the next two weeks, we are going to try make the fight.”
Pacquiao, 62-8-2(39) spoke about how good he feels at age 45:
“I made history at age 40 beating Keith Thurman. And if feel at 45, I have a lot left in the game as I haven’t taken a lot of punishment over the last few years. I want to make history,” Manny said.
So, will this fight happen and can a 45 year old version of Manny Pacquiao beat Mario Barrios? Barrios, who is “very excited at the possibility of this fight being made,” is 29 years of age and he is currently 29-2(18). Barrios of San Antonio, Texas has been stopped just once, this by Tank Davis in June of 2021. Last seen scoring a UD win over Fabian Maidana to retain his WBC interim strap, this on May 4, Barrios also holds a win over Yugas.
Youth will of course be on Barrios’ side in a huge way if the fight with Pac-Man comes off, but we have seen Pacquiao defeat Father Time before. Though plenty of us feel Manny has done more than enough in the sport, he has made more than enough history, we would be hypocrites to say we would not watch him fight if he did box again.
Can Pacquiao win another version of a world title at age 45?
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