Manny Pacquiao is aiming to challenge for the WBC welterweight title in a record-breaking attempt on a new date, WBN can report.
World Boxing News stated in a world exclusive earlier this year that Pacquiao wanted to open talks with Mario Barrios for a potential championship challenge at 147 pounds. If successful, the Filipino superstar would have smashed his record by five years, which he claimed against Keith Thurman in July 2019.
In another exclusive, Barrios’ trainer Bob Santos informed WBN that the champion would be interested in accepting the fight.
“Once Mario was getting elevated, Pacquiao wanted to make history, and Barrios is the guy that he wants to fight for the WBC title,” Santos told World Boxing News.
“We’re all moving forward, no doubt about it,” the 2022 Trainer of the Year said. “It’s just a matter of putting together where the fight will be and all the little details here and there. But Manny wants the fight, and Mario wants the fight.
“It’s just a matter of what the exact number will be, who will agree to what, and where the fight will be. It will [likely be] in the fall, October or November.”
Time constraints ended negotiations, and Barrios went on to face Abel Ramos in November instead.
Barrios and Ramos ended in a draw, meaning the fight could be resurrected at some point. However, as WBN explained again through Pacquiao representative Sean Gibbons, the former Senator had political obligations to go through between January and May.
Therefore, any Pacquiao vs Barrios clash would have to occur in the summer, which WBN can reveal is the new Gibbons plan. Gibbons hopes to conclude talks with Barrios for a Las Vegas showdown in July, giving Pacquiao the perfect ending to his Hall of Fame career.
Gibbons said, “That is the fight for July 2025. Viva! Manny loves the fight!”
Pacquiao was inducted at the first opportunity earlier this year and will receive his honor in June 2025. So, if the 46-year-old gets in the ring with Barrios, he can beat that benchmark by six years.
Having already won world titles in eight weight classes and been one of the most significant names in the sport for a quarter of a century, Pacquiao is again displaying why he’s cut from a different cloth by targeting a world champion on the wrong side of forty.
