IT’S OFFICIAL: Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao’s return to the ring is no longer a rumor, as the People’s Champ has announced his fight against a younger Mexican-American boxer, Mario Barrios.
The 46-year-old Pacquiao chose to take up his boxing gloves from the trunk once more, nearly four years after retiring from professional boxing and losing his last fight against Yordenis Ugas of Cuba in 2021.
Pacquiao recently attempted to seek for another Senate seat in the 2025 National and Local Elections, but was unsuccessful, finishing 18th with 10,397,133 votes. Now, he’s back to a familiar territory.
He’s Back
Pacquiao made more buzz online on Wednesday with a social media post in which he finally announced his fight against Barrios, ending his four-year retirement to fight again.
“I’m back,” Pacquiao said on his social media post. “On July 19, I return to the ring to face WBC Welterweight Champion Mario Barrios at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.”
“Let’s make history!” he went on to say, shooting for a spot in history as one of the oldest boxers to record a victory, with Bernard Hopkins holding the record at 46 years old.
However, there has been a lot of discussion in the boxing community about Pacquiao’s stunning return. Some are in awe, while others are concerned about his decision to fight again.
Pacquiao is clearly passed his prime. The Filipino Pride, despite aging, thinks that the appropriate preparation can always get you someplace; he even shrugged off “old” criticisms about himself.
“Don’t worry about it,” Pacquiao replied with a laugh when asked about Barrios having the youth advantage in the age gap, as he is 16 years older than the Mexican-American fighter.
Don’t Let It Fool You
Concerns are reasonable, but as some might say, don’t let age deceive you. That is what Pacquiao’s former opponent Juan Manuel Marquez says, recognizing that it will still be a difficult battle for Barrios.
“After four years of inactivity, we’ll see how he comes back. After that knockout in 2012, he continued to fight and he looked pretty good beating great fighters,” Mexican boxing great said in a recent interview with ProBox TV.
“Manny Pacquiao is a fighter who dedicates himself, a disciplined fighter. It’s not an easy fight for Mario Barrios,” he went on to say.
It’s fair to assume that Marquez is the opponent who knows Pacquiao the best. The Mexican boxer, who retired in 2017, had four spectacular matches with his greatest foe between 2004 and 2012.
Pacquiao won eight of his following 11 fights after his terrible last-second knockout loss to Marquez, including an excellent performance against Keith Thurman in 2019 to claim the WBA (Super) welterweight title.
“This is a battle of experience that favors the Filipino fighter. With his power and speed, the question now is how well he can perform in his return to the ring,” Marquez went on to explain.
Didn’t Skip A Beat
Pacquiao has already reunited with his longtime trainers, Freddie Roach and Buboy Fernandez, at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles. Surprisingly, both of them say he is just as sharp as he was before.
“He’s not just in shape—he’s still sharp. Today was about seeing where we’re starting from. And frankly, we’re not far off,” Fernandez said.
“This baseline is just the beginning. We’ll adjust the program depending on Manny’s direction.”
Pacquiao and the rest of his team will continue to test the waters and adjust their plans based on how the former eight-division world champion performs. For the time being, he’ll keep working on getting back into shape.
