Manny Pacquiao confirms comeback – who will the legendary Filipino boxer face in his potential swansong?
- ‘Pac Man’ is officially in training camp as Covid-19 pandemic and senatorial duties open up
- A Floyd Mayweather Jnr rematch? A Ryan Garcia – new vs old gen bout? A Terence Crawford money fight? Who tops the list?
The 42-year-old (professional record 62-7-1, 39 KO’s) announced in February that he had started a training camp and was ready “to further add my legacy to the sport of boxing” adding “big news coming soon”, but the Covid-19 pandemic and his Philippines senatorial duties could yet delay his comeback.
With whispers of Pacquiao considering presidential candidacy, this could be the last time fans see “Pac Man” work his southpaw magic.
Mikey Garcia (40-1, 30 KO’s)
The former four-weight world champion is the clear front-runner after Pacquiao specifically mentioned he was of interest in March. “We’re leaning towards Mikey Garcia, but we’re also talking to [Terence] Crawford. It depends on who I get to face, but what’s important is I’m ready,” Pacquiao told ABS-CBN. Both parties represent Premier Boxing Champions and were previously at Top Rank at the same time.
“We never really got complacent,” Pacquiao said. “We’ve always continuously worked out. We keep playing basketball aside from boxing. Actually, right after my last fight with Thurman, I didn’t work [on] boxing, but I kept playing basketball.”
The 33-year-old Garcia, who last time out beat Jessie Vargas via unanimous decision for the vacant WBC diamond welterweight title just over a year ago, confirmed the talks. “It’s been in the works for a few years. In the last few weeks, we’ve been getting very close to finalising it. I’m pretty excited. Hopefully we can get the exact date ... we’re trying to get everything done for May,” Garcia said on his social media. The American lost for the first time in his pro career in a one-sided unanimous decision loss to Errol Spence Jnr in 2019.
Terence Crawford (37-0, 28 KO’s)
“Bud” would be a big name and test for Pacquiao and appears to be the backup should Garcia negotiations fall through. The 33-year-old American – considered to be up there with Canelo Alvarez for pound-for-pound active No 1 – defended his WBO world welterweight champion after beating Kell Brook via fourth-round TKO in November last year, which he has held since 2018.
The former unified, lineal welterweight champion would only satisfy Pacquiao if the money is right, however. The Senator reportedly told The Daily Tribune that he wanted US$40 million (HK$311 million) on the table – and a 3:1 split in his favour. In a Covid-19-restricted world, this seems increasingly unlikely.
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum had entertained the idea earlier in the year, telling Barbershop Conversations Pacquiao’s name came up while negotiating a separate fight for Crawford. “Then out of nowhere the idea of a tremendous site fee and the possibility of doing Pacquiao vs Crawford came up. Obviously it’s more money for Terence and [he] would prefer a Pacqiuao fight against anybody else.” Arum later claimed Pacquiao turned the fight down, telling Business Insider it was a “non-starter. I even offered Manny the fight with Crawford and [his] people said ‘no’.”
Ryan Garcia (21-0, 18 KO’s)
The 22-year-old American phenom proved he was not just a flashy social media bag-hitter after an impressive seventh-round TKO of Briton Luke Campbell in January. Garcia is now the WBC interim world lightweight belt-holder and called his hero Pacquiao out after the fight. Disappointingly, everything stalled before any talks took place after Golden Boy Promotions founder, Oscar de la Hoya, and president Eric Gomez confirmed “the fight isn’t going to happen”.
“Oscar likes to contradict himself. It’s all good, it’s all love, man. It’s not my fault ever. I always say yes to everything. If a fight falls through it’s because of the opposite side. That’s no disrespect to Manny. Manny is a great fighter – sorry, he’s a legendary fighter – and is somebody I respect a lot in and out the ring. It was just the little things on his end that didn’t let the fight happen,” Garcia told Fight Hub TV before calling de la Hoya “very unprofessional” for shutting down his own fighter’s call-out.
With Pacquiao mulling a different Garcia, and younger fans dreaming of a new-gen lightweight bout between “King Ry” and “Tank” Gervonta Davis, it would seem this bout’s chances is low. But, as Garcia described, Pacquiao “is gonna do whatever he wants”. He may change his mind.
Josh Taylor (17-0, 13 KO’s)
Nicknamed “The Tartan Tornado”, the Scottish star is already scheduled for a bout with Jose Carlos Ramirez for the undisputed light welterweight title in May. The 30-year-old is unbeaten and holds the WBA, IBF and Ring Magazine belts since 2019. He last defended them against Thailand’s Apinun Khongsong in September last year, winning by first-round TKO.
While he is tied up for whole quarter, Taylor made his respect for Pacquiao known last month. He said a fight would be his ultimate dream. “To share the ring with my hero Pacquiao? That would be brilliant. How many people can say they shared a ring with their hero and beat them? Not many,” he told Sky Sports.
“[I admire] everything about him. He’s funny, he sings, he puts on a Scottish accent, his fighting style, he’s a people’s champion, a really nice person, he gives money to feed people. He’s an absolute gentleman and his fighting style is ferocious. A southpaw with fast hands who can fight like hell.” The storyline is already there – perhaps it will steer a bout between the ferocious southpaws in future.
Floyd Mayweather Jnr (50-0, 27 KO’s)