The way living legend Manny Pacquiao tells it, he is feeling so great ahead of his July 19 comeback against WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios that he could have three comeback fights, not just one. Of course, if the critics are proven right, and 46 year old Pacquiao takes a hiding from Barrios, all bets are off. But as of right now, with numerous weeks of his training camp apparently sending the all-time great the kind of messages that he is more than able to rumble some more at the highest level, Manny is looking to win next month and then stick around.
As of right now, Bernard Hopkins holds the record as the oldest world champion in the sport, this at the advanced age of 49. Pacquiao’s goal, along with beating his own record as being the oldest welterweight champion ever, is to bust B-Hop’s record.
Pacquiao says he wants three fights—if his body holds up
“I think I have two or three more fights left,” Pacquiao said when speaking again with The Ring. “I feel I could do this for another couple of years. But I’m just taking it one at a time. My goal is to become the oldest champion and retire as champion. This fight (against Barrios) is very important to me because it’s history. I believe I’d be the first Hall of Famer to win another world title, and also break my own record as the oldest welterweight world champion.”
This is of course an incredible challenge Pacquiao has set himself, and it would be the stuff of fairy dreams if he were able to achieve it. But who knows, maybe Pac-Man – a truly amazing fighter who has already defied so many odds – can actually do it. At age 46, Manny has three years to go until he can break Hopkins’ record, and we will learn so much when watching the Barrios fight next month.
But rest assured, fight fans, and people who enjoy seeing the boundaries of human achievement, will be rooting for Mega-Manny to pull it all off over the coming months, if not years.
And take a time to feel for Barrios. Will anyone be cheering for him come July 19?
Mario Barrios And Manny Pacquiao Come Face-To-Face, And Barrios Seeks To Emulate Juan Manuel Marquez’s Stunning KO
Mario Barrios and Manny Pacquiao finally came face-to-face yesterday, this as the official press conference ahead of their July 19 fight in Las Vegas was at last concluded. And there were quite a few takeaways from the presser. The most glaring thing fans noticed is the size difference between the two fighters. WBC welterweight champ Barrios is clearly so much bigger and taller than Pacquiao, and one could make a guess that the 30 year old is currently quite a bit above the 147 pound limit.
Pacquiao was all smiles inside the Mandalay Bay, as was Barrios, with no bad blood or trash-talking in sight. And Pac-Man said he is coming back because he “misses the passion” of boxing, with the 46 year old brushing off suggestions he is coming back after a four-year layoff because he is broke.
“I really missed it,” Pacquiao said of fighting, with him refusing to commit to any following fight should he defeat Barrios. “One at a time,” he said, laughing, this when reporters asked him if he wanted Tank Davis next should he manage to take Barrios’s title.
As for the defending champ, he spoke about how much a fan he is of the epic Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez fights, the fourth and final fight and its explosive ending in particular. Barrios said “it’s kill or be killed” in this fight, and he is looking at emulating Marquez’s crushing KO win over Pacquiao.
Could Barrios Repeat Marquez’s Infamous KO Ending?
“I was a huge Marquez fan. I was always a big fan of all those fights [between Marquez and Pacquiao],” Barrios said yesterday, quoted via IFL TV. “It was always back and forth. And the way their [final] fight ended…..Now it’s me who’s the one facing him. It’s kind of like full circle. And it’s crazy being at this point in my career. The main thing is, going in there and don’t let him get his rhythm going. I’m not going there taking rounds off. It’s just another fight for me. It’s kill or be killed in there.”
If Barrios, 29-2-1(18) did land a shot from hell and he knocked Pacquiao out in similar fashion to the way Marquez did, it would be a sad and scary night for the millions of Pacquiao fans watching in the hopes of seeing their hero turning back the hands of time. Such an end to the July fight would also have people watching proceedings with their hands in front of their face. If Manny got seriously hurt in this fight, God forbid, the critics who were against it right from the start would really have plenty to say. And the sport would suffer a big black eye.
But Pacquiao, 62-8-2(39) appears very confident and relaxed going into next month’s fight. And his many supporters really are hoping it will be him who scores the KO win on the night.
