Netflix reportedly wants Manny Pacquiao against Shakur Stevenson as a second main event alongside Anthony Joshua–Tyson Fury. Pacquiao will be 47 on the proposed December 11 date. He has not won a fight since beating Keith Thurman in 2019. Putting him opposite a 29-year-old at the top of his game would invite criticism before the card begins.
Nothing is signed. BoxingScene reports that neither fighter has received a bout agreement and that Pacquiao’s financial terms remain under discussion. That gives the organizers time to reconsider.
Shakur faces a no-win fight. Dominate Pacquiao and he gets credit for beating an aging legend. Box cautiously for twelve rounds and viewers who came to see Pacquiao attack will blame him for the lack of action. A victory over Pacquiao now would tell us little about how Shakur fares against the best fighters near his own age.
Their styles make the proposed pairing harder to sell. Pacquiao’s great weapon was the speed of his feet as much as his hands: he found angles, attacked, and escaped before opponents could answer. Shakur controls distance and punishes fighters who reach for him. Pacquiao may still produce sharp bursts, as he did against Mario Barrios, but asking him to chase that kind of opponent for twelve rounds at 47 is a different proposition.
There is a weight question, too. Shakur beat Teofimo Lopez at 140 pounds in January; Pacquiao’s most recent fight was at welterweight. The terms would have to suit both men. Whatever they agree, Shakur would spend another stretch of his prime pursuing a famous name instead of a leading contender.
Pacquiao’s achievements across eight divisions are secure. Fans can still dread watching him take clean punches from a younger fighter when his speed has faded. That concern deserves more thought than the number of viewers his name might bring to Netflix.
Joshua–Fury is overdue, but both remain active heavyweights with a real rivalry. Keyshawn Davis–Richardson Hitchins, also discussed for the card, offers a better co-feature: two fighters in their prime risking their standing against each other. It may be a tactical fight. Its result would still matter more to boxing today than Shakur beating the Pacquiao fans remember from years ago.
Calling it an abomination would be completely accurate because it lays bare the worst instincts of modern boxing matchmaking: packaging a name from a previous generation to manufacture safe paydays while avoiding dangerous, live threats in their prime.
Shakur taking that fight would be an open admission of running from real risk. He is 29, at the absolute physical peak of his career, yet he would rather spend his time hunting down a 47-year-old grandfather who has not won a boxing match since the summer of 2019. That seven-year drought without a victory tells the entire story. Pacquiao fought Mario Barrios to a draw, but surviving twelve rounds against a limited fighter does not qualify him to share a ring with an elite defensive technician two decades younger.
Shakur demanding a 144-pound catchweight against a completely faded legend who already belongs in a museum would fit right into the modern playbook: stack the deck, drain the older man, and eliminate any tiny fraction of physical advantage Pacquiao might still carry.
Instead of stepping in with dangerous opposition who could actually test him, Shakur gets to collect an easy multi-million-dollar Netflix check against a shell of a legend. It turns the sport into a sideshow. When promoters prioritize that kind of cynical mismatch over legitimate fights like Keyshawn Davis against Richardson Hitchins, they treat the ring as a novelty act rather than elite competition.
The fan backlash tonight makes complete sense. Boxing fans are tired of seeing major streaming platforms treat championship boxing like a vanity project. Netflix has a reach of hundreds of millions of households, and this card is positioned to be one of the most viewed combat sports broadcasts of the decade.
Staging Shakur against Pacquiao on that stage does not showcase boxing at its best. It advertises boxing as an exploitative circus. Casual viewers who tune in to see the Pacquiao from highlight reels will be treated to a depressing reality check. When non-fans tune into boxing, you want them to witness high-level drama, competitive danger, and prime athletic brilliance.
Handing them an aging icon chasing shadows against a safety-first technician who relies on lateral movement and pot-shots is the fastest way to kill audience interest for good. By round four, the arena goes quiet, social media turns toxic, and the general public walks away concluding that boxing is boring, cynical, and detached from real competition.
The disgust also comes from knowing exactly who is getting bypassed to make room for this stunt. A matchup like Keyshawn Davis opposite Richardson Hitchins brings genuine athletic consequence. That fight puts real stakes on the table between two prime contenders trying to define their generation.
Shunting a legitimate, competitive fight aside to prop up a nearly 48-year-old Pacquiao who has not won a fight since 2019 insults the hardcore base and misinforms casual fans. If organizers go through with this, it confirms the worst fears about corporate influence over fight cards.
Instead of building the sport for the future by elevating prime talent, they are willing to burn through boxing’s remaining credibility just to put a legendary name on an algorithm-friendly promotional poster.