Boxing asks us to forgive a lot.
But you do get to draw the line somewhere, though.
Personally, I’ve been nudged past my comfort zone a few times over the course of about 50 years as a fan/participant/writer. At this moment, I draw my line at signing boxing over to a murderous Saudi monarchy and/or working for the benefit of that monarchy.
That’s why hearing about a Manny Pacquiao comeback doesn’t really grind my gears.
In the grand scale of boxing outrages, a delusional Hall of Famer taking one more dive into the spotlight is small potatoes. It’s small potatoes, compared to an entire sport being co-opted and moved to the other side of the world, with eyes on paring back fighters’ rights.
But, I digress.
The 46-year-old Pacquiao is said to be locked into a July 19 bout against WBC welterweight champ Mario Barrios. And, yeah, it sucks that this is even a thing.
The multi-division former champ, who will be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame this year, last fought “for real” back in August of 2021, when he was beaten thoroughly via unanimous decision by Yordenis Ugas. You’d have to go back to 2019 for his last real victory, when he upset Keith Thurman by split decision.
Since retirement, Pacquiao has had two exhibition bouts. The most recent one, against kickboxer Rukiya Anpo last July, went excruciatingly unwell as I noted in my “fight” recap at the time:
“For much of his three-round exhibition bout Sunday at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan, Manny Pacquiao looked like the befuddled B-side and kickboxer Rukiya Anpo looked like the boxing legend playing with his opponent.
It was THAT bad.
Simply put, the 45-year-old Pacquiao has no business fighting anymore. If money is an issue, then maybe the future first-ballot Hall of Famer needs to scale back his lifestyle. Because, nope, boxing is no longer an option.”
This time around, he’ll be facing a “real” boxer in Barrios who is looking to make a real name for himself with a win over a legend.
And, still, I don’t feel too bad about it. If anything, the whole thing just finds me kind of numb.
The soon-to-be-30-year-old Barrios is good, but he’s no killer. He’s knocked out one guy in the last five years and was knocked out, himself, by Gervonta Davis in 2021. In his most recent fight, on the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson Netflix undercard, he was dropped en route to a draw with tough, but deeply second-tier Abel Ramos.
Barrios is a good enough guy and an earnest enough fighter, but his world class standing is based on one big win– a decision over Yordenis Ugas in 2023 for the interim WBC title– and competent, high-profile losses to Gervonta Davis and Keith Thurman. He’s only a “world” champ because unified welterweight champ Terence Crawford vacated the WBC title, making way for Barrios to be elevated to full champ status.
Pacquiao shouldn’t beat Barrios, but I actually wouldn’t rule it out.
Fighting Barrios is strategic matchmaking for Team Manny, picking on the perceived weakest reigning champ to sleight-of-hand Manny’s way to another belt and another wave of “Pacquiao is legendary” glory.
That’s intoxicating stuff. Plus, there’s the money.
There’ll be lots of money for Pacquiao, for his team, and for the event organizers, who can still bank on the Pacquiao brand as a money-making, market-tickling gimmick. That’s why this comeback bout has been in the works for almost a year now and seems to have finally scored a TKO over common sporting sense.
And where there’s money, there are facilitators/enablers.
“I like the idea very much,” WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman told Sky Sports last July, when Pacquiao-Barrios rumors first started brewing. “I think Manny Pacquiao can beat any fighter or can be competitive with any fighter today.
“But to have him return to the WBC more than two decades after he won his first world championship, which was the WBC flyweight title, and then go all the way to welterweight in 2024 would be sensational.”
Well, it’s certainly “sensational” for those still looking to shake the Pacquiao money tree for loose coinage.
Honestly, I’m not even entirely sure I believe that this fight will happen. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to believe that this was some sort of publicity stunt ahead of Manny’s May 12 Senate run in the Philippines, the results of which you’ll probably know before this column is posted. An undercard lineup for this supposed PBC event, however, has already been reported by Sheik Mike Coppinger of the New Era Saudi Ring Magazine.
Worse things have happened, though. Actually, worse things ARE happening. So, again, it’s hard to find too much outrage for what amounts to standard cynical boxing operating procedure.
At this point, a legend embarrassing himself as carpetbaggers rush to take advantage seems almost refreshingly normal and quaint.
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