Living legend Manny Pacquiao, the only eight-division king of the ring, recently began his latest training camp, with the 46 year old being back doing his customary dog-accompanied roadwork along with some stuff in the gym. But who exactly is Manny training to fight? Coming off that good effort in the summer when he held WBC welterweight champ Mario Barrios to a draw, with plenty of people feeling Pacquiao actually deserved the points victory, Pac-Man has made it clear his career is not over with yet.
There has over the last couple of weeks or so, been talk of Pacquiao maybe fighting Floyd Mayweather next, this in a lucrative rematch of their 2015 ‘Fight of the Century.’ While Manny has seen his name put alongside Rolly Romero’s, with another title challenge possible for the southpaw dynamo from the Philippines. There has also been some talk of a possible exhibition bout between Pacquiao and the recently retired Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Is Pacquiao Really Chasing Mayweather, Rolly… or Lomachenko?
Pac-Man, who will turn 47 next month but still looks years younger, his performance in the Barrios fight proving he has still got a good deal to offer at top level, or at least at championship level against the, shall we say, “right” champions. And Manny, 62-8-3(39) has options.
Trainer Robert Garcia, speaking with Ring Magazine, said he would favour Pacquiao over Romero should the two fight next year.
“Maybe he doesn’t have a lot of gas left in the tank anymore, but he has enough gas to compete against guys like Barrios or Rolly,” Garcia said of Pacquiao. “Rolly is the perfect fight for him. Next to Barrios, people think Rolly is the one who shouldn’t be too difficult. It sucks to say it, because Barrios is a really good person and a nice kid. But they picked Barrios in July because they thought he was the easiest champion from the 147-pound division. I thought Barrios was going to handle Pacquiao pretty easily and beat him without problems, but it was actually the other way around.”
Was Barrios Pacquiao’s Last Great Night — Or One More Warning Shot?
The question is, was Manny’s strong performance in July his last great fight, his last great effort, or can he go one better and get a win next time out? Is Romero really the “perfect fight” for Manny? Maybe.
Pac-Man is already back working hard, and who knows, maybe 2026 could see the all-time great fight once, twice, perhaps even three times.