Don’t fall for the hype. That’s the message I want to convey about the upcoming WBC welterweight title fight between Manny Pacquiao and Mario Barrios (29-2-1, 18 KOs) scheduled for July 19 in Las Vegas, but maybe by the end of writing this column, I won’t actually do that.
Pacquiao (62-8-2, 39 KOs) is returning to action after a prolonged absence from the professional prizefighting ranks. Pacquiao’s last legit professional boxing match was a 12-round unanimous decision loss to Yordenis Ugas in August 2021. That fight was about the best an old-timer like Pacquiao, then 42, could have hoped for in a sport that all too often sees historically great legends toppled into heaps of yesterday’s news after a fighter has enjoyed just one too many birthdays.
Pacquiao was soundly beaten in that fight, but he wasn’t separated from his senses or pounded into bloody submission. So it was sort of a massive win in a way, and it offered Pacquiao the chance to ride off into the sunset without having suffered too much physical damage and with his dignity still intact.
The Pacquiao Exhibition Tour
But three years later, Pacquiao fought to a draw in an exhibition boxing match against Japanese kickboxer Rukiya Anpo. Pacquiao, then 45, looked terrible in the outing. The athlete who had won world titles in eight different weight classes did not seem to make it into the ring that night in Tokyo, and the man who did make it into the ring probably shouldn’t have.
He was old, slow, and seemed more suited for politics than punching. After the fight, Pacquiao tried his hand at the former by claiming to be operating at “about 60%” of his full capacity. But honestly, it looked to me more like 20% of his old capacity, and since the problem with age is that a 45-year-old’s 100% capacity is likely to be something like 20% of his prime, that’s probably the best for which he could have hoped going into the fight.
It was a really good thing he wasn’t fighting a real boxer that night. Still, Pacquiao didn’t get worked over or knocked out in the fight, so he could still walk away from the sport with some measure of pride.
Since then, Pacquiao has grown a year older and probably also a year more steeped in denial about what happens to old fighters when they try to hang on to something that is no longer meant for them.
Legends Never Die?
But here’s the thing. Between now and July 19, a funny thing is likely to start to happening in our hearts and minds, partially because the promoters will put together such excellent propagand—errr, I mean promotional materials, but also because there’s just something inside of us as boxing fans that wants or even needs to believe that Pacquiao can win the fight.
I mean, think about it. It shouldn’t be too hard for any of us to imagine him pulling it off.
Remember when Pacquiao moved up to welterweight and battered Oscar De La Hoya into retirement? I’m sure there were some super sharp boxing fans back then who thought it could happen, but I wasn’t one of them.
Remember when he became the first fighter to defeat junior welterweight champ Ricky Hatton at the UK star’s best weight of 140 pounds? It was one of the most spectacular knockouts in boxing history, and I can’t say I saw that one coming either.
Heck, I distinctly remember him facing what I thought would be a murderers’ row of larger men: Miguel Cotto, Joshua Clottey, and Antonio Margarito. There was no way he was going 3-0 in those fights. Right? Except that he did.
I can even recall a way-over-the-hill version of Pacquiao, then 40, dropping Keith Thurman to the canvas in 2019 in a decision victory that captured gold in what I thought would surely be the final world championship fight of Pacquiao’s career.
Over and over again, Pacquiao has defied the odds and, through that process, the Filipino legend has become one of the greatest and most decorated fighters of all time.
He was recently inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, and honestly, he is one of the few fighters in boxing history who might actually deserve some kind of double designation as a Hall of Famer due to the fact that he is wholly deserving of that credential twice over.
The version of Pacquiao who began his career at 106 pounds and worked up past 130 pounds to battle the likes of all-time greats Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, and Juan Manuel Marquez would deserve to be in the Hall of Fame even if Pacquiao had retired before moving up to 147 to face De La Hoya in 2008.Pacquiao’s post-2008 run, which included all the aforementioned victories over world-renowned welterweights, plus massive superfights against other great champions, including most notably Floyd Mayweather in 2015, would also deserve to be inducted into Canastota.
Legacy
Pacquiao is truly unlike any other fighter in boxing history.
So I want to tell you that we shouldn’t fall for the hype of Pacquiao vs. Barrios. I want to express that a 46-year-old Pacquiao couldn’t possibly defy expectations again by defeating Barrios to become the WBC welterweight champion. I want to assure you that there’s no way he can become one of the very few all-time great boxing champions who gets to saunter off into retirement riding a horse named Victory with a world title belt wrapped around his waist.
Except that I can’t in good conscience do that, because Pacquiao has made a career out of making people like me look stupid for doubting his ability to shock the world.
“I’m back,” Pacquiao posted on social media when he announced his return to boxing in what was surely a callback to Michael Jordan‘s infamous message before His Air-ness returned to the NBA after a brief retirement to capture three more world championships.
I’m not sure he’ll be as back as Jordan was, and part of me thinks we probably shouldn’t fall for the hype surrounding Pacquiao’s imminent return to boxing. But another part of me knows that Pacquiao’s historic boxing career suggests the opposite could just as well be true.
So maybe we shouldn’t be hyped about Pacquiao vs. Barrios. But, honestly, perhaps we should be. Because maybe—just maybe—we are about to witness history.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Mario Barrios Betting Odds
Per DraftKings SportsBook, Mario Barrios is the favorite at -370, and Manny Pacquiao is the underdog at +275.
Mario Barrios: TKO/KO +120; Decision +170
Draw: +1600
Manny Pacquiao: TKO/KO +550; Decision +700
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