Manny Pacquiao’s return to the ring against Mario Barrios on July 19 for the WBC welterweight belt will be a family affair event. This is because Pacquiao’s 24-year-old son Jimuel is on track to make his professional boxing debut on the undercard of his 46-year-old father’s fight.
Jimuel amassed a 6-4 amateur boxing record, but lost four consecutive fights at one point. That raised some question marks from his pops. About whether his son was truly cut out for the boxing game. From an article by Geoffrey Gray in Alta Magazine, Manny Pacquiao made a blunt admission about his son’s boxing aspirations.
“I don’t approve,” Manny is quoted telling his son about his professional boxing aspirations. However, Jimuel was persistent, which ultimately swayed Manny enough to reluctantly allow Jimuel to be a part of his upcoming camp for the Barrios fight.
“OK, I’ll download the secrets of boxing to you,” Manny said to his son Jimuel.
Concerns from both ends
“I mean, it makes sense,” Jimuel said about people having concerns about his father fighting against Barrios. “He’s 46 now. And even me, as his son, I love him, he’s my dad. There’s also concern there, you know? “But I believe in him. He has shown us that he stays in shape year around and all that. So weight is not gonna be a problem, fitness is not gonna be a problem,” he added.
Both father and son have concerns about each other. But those concerns could be put to rest with with victories from both father and son on July 19th.
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Robert LaMar is a writer for Dice City Sports. You can follow him on X via @RobertLaMar26
