Fresh off of being elected into the 2025 International Boxing Hall of Fame. Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao is coming out of retirement at 46 years old and plans on adding to his already great legacy. He plans on making history when he takes on Mario Barrios for WBC welterweight belt on July 19th in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Pacquiao is always multitasking. He’s used to fighting and being knee deep into politics in his native Philippines. But he was able to sit back and reflect on his accomplishments that led him to being elected into the hall of fame.
“And now, when I look back,” Pacquiao said, “eight-division world champion, world titles in four different decades, oldest welterweight world champion in history, those are not just opinions. They are facts.”
Decade of dominance
Starting his career at junior flyweight. We have never seen a fighter grow to multiple weight classes and still maintain dominance. Honestly it’s unimaginable because no fighter has won championships in 8 different weight classes but that’s exactly what ‘Pacman’ did. Pacquiao was named the fighter of the decade for the 2000’s.
“From flyweight to junior middleweight, eight divisions,” Pacquiao said. “Every fight, every victory was a step further from poverty. It was not just for me but for my family, for the Filipino people.”
The newly crowned hall of famer will be looking to break his own record as the oldest welterweight champion next month. Boxing fans are very eager to see if he still has what it takes to become champion after being away from the ring since 2021. Pacquiao says that the best is still yet to come. Boxing fans will be tuning in on July 19th to see if that’s true.
Robert LaMar is a writer for Dice City Sports. You can follow him on X
