Manny Pacquiao looked slow, with a lack of urgency, like the once legendary champ didn’t want to be in the boxing ring. That was during his last fight, an ugly loss almost four years ago to a Cuban fighter, Yordenis Ugas.
But here is Pacquiao smiling, getting ready for his return to the ring on Saturday against WBC welterweight champ Mario Barrios in Las Vegas. Pacquiao is 46 and well aware of the horror stories of the long, slumped-over line of boxers who don’t know when to hang up the gloves or stay retired.
So, why, why is he back in the ring, 30 years after he made his debut? Pacquiao said he doesn’t need the money — though the reported purse of $12.5 million is not too shabby — and he swears he is not bored.
“I just missed boxing and I can still feel the fire in my heart and in my mind,” Pacquiao said in a Zoom interview last week. “And when I trained, I quickly saw that I still have the ability to be champion again.”
Pacquiao, an eight-division world champion, is attempting to break his own record by becoming the oldest welterweight champion in boxing history.
Pacquiao (62-8-2, 39 knockouts) said he started thinking about returning to the sport last year, when he finished 18th in an attempt to reclaim a seat in the Senate of the Philippines. He was a senator from 2016-22, then lost a bid for the country’s presidency and in his latest Senate election fell short of a needed top-12 finish.
The WBC, as all boxing commissions who love to sell fights would, extended open arms and pointed to its rule that a retired former champion can ask for a world title fight.
“I went to my doctor and he gave me the thumbs up,” Pacquiao said. “My family supported the decision as well, because they saw my eagerness and that I was in great body condition.”
No one close to him tried to talk him out of a comeback. He admits that he thinks of his legacy and what another loss would mean to boxing historians and fans.
“I think about my reputation,” Pacquiao said. “But I’m not like the other fighters who come back even though they shouldn’t. I have made sure that I can still fight and do all the things I used to. I can still move, punch hard and win a title.”
Mario Barrios, at right, and Manny Pacquiao, at left, have been promoting their fight scheduled for Saturday with TGB Promotions president Tom Brown, behind them at center. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images) His family and friends almost had a lot more to cheer about. Pacquiao’s 24-year-old son, Jimuel, was expected to make his professional boxing debut on the undercard, but that has been scratched. Maybe next time, if Pacquiao wins on Saturday.
“I have been telling him his whole life the key to boxing is hard work and extra effort.” Pacquiao said. “Just training is not enough. And that is why I have been able to surprise people for my whole career. It will be 30 years in boxing this fight.”
Pacquiao said he had a hard time not seeing himself as a boxer when he was retired, and jumped at the chance to work with former trainer Freddie Roach again in Hollywood.
“I was so sad for a long time, because I lost to the easiest opponent of my career and I had a lot of distractions then, and now I am happy again,” he said. “I was with Freddie for 20 years, and now we are back to where we were before, focusing on strategy and technique and enjoying each other.”
The bad guy in all of this is Barrios (29-2-1), whose mother was five months pregnant when Pacquiao made his debut. There won’t be a lot of mean-mugging, as Barrios is fighting against a Hall of Famer and a very likable one at that.
“He’s a hard guy to dislike,” said Barrios, who defeated Ugas in 2023. “A legend is going to be across from me. I have all the respect for him outside the ring, but inside the ring, he’s just another man trying to take what’s mine.”
Barrios does have a serious height advantage (6 feet to 5-5 1/2), but Pacquiao easily handled much-taller opponents like Jessie Vargas in his prime.
“Footwork is more important than height,” Pacquiao said, smiling.
This fight could help build up Barrios’ name, but if Pacquiao can pull off the upset — he is a plus-200 underdog, according to BetMGM — he wonders if a rematch could pull 48-year-old Floyd Mayweather Jr. out of retirement. Their first fight 10 years was not aesthetically pleasing, and Pacquiao fought while injured, but the Mayweather win by decision was the highest-selling combat event of all time.
And boxing fans, as evidenced by the Jake Paul circus, can be a desperate bunch.
Pacquiao said he is only focused on this bout for now. “We can talk about Mayweather later. I returned because I missed boxing and I plan to win convincingly,” he said. “I want to impress the fans after I let them down last time, and I hope I can entertain everybody.
“We talked about legacy before, and I want to inspire the fans and young boxers.”
