While Manny Pacquiao is set to return from retirement, the occasion has been soured greatly as his opponent has been confirmed to be WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios. Set to be held at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 19, both the Nevada State Athletic Commission and the WBC seem to be dealing with a case of either severe delusion or unfathomable greed as the 46-year old Pacquiao readies himself against 30-year old champion Barrios. To no one’s surprise, PBC/TGB Promotions is set to promote the upcoming bout, which will be streamed on Amazon Prime PPV.
There are multiple reasons why the upcoming welterweight (147 lbs) title bout between WBC champion Mario Barrios (29-2-1, 18 KO’s) and Manny Pacquiao (62-8-2, 39 KO’s) is unrealistic. First and foremost, as it pertains to the WBC, Pacquiao virtually sidestepped fourteen other contenders to suddenly gain a world title shot.
This is despite Pacquiao having not had a fight since his defeat to Yordenis Ugas in 2021.
More importantly, the WBC clearly delineates between who deserves a world title shot and who doesn’t, with only top 15 contenders eligible.
Of course, despite Manny Pacquiao having not fought for four years in a professional contest, the WBC has opted to enable Pacquiao the opportunity for a world title by placing him at #5 on their latest rankings.
This move counts as one of the latest and most visible decisions that openly displays the WBC’s own corruption and negligence of the rules, with Pacquiao, for obvious reasons, not deserving of the #5 position due to his 4-year stint of inactivity.
Of course, Pacquiao, a legend in the sport, has the name recognition for the WBC to make such a bold move, which would be the only basis for a 46-year old retired boxer to suddenly become a top contender out of the blue. With the action to approve a Barrios-Pacquiao bout, the WBC seems intend on continuing its longstanding tradition of corruption, inconsistency and sheer witlessness.
Despite the latest of WBC’s misdirection being highlighted, the greater concern revolves around the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) who approved of Pacquiao competing in a professional contest. It sets a disturbing precedent; a 46-year old retiree put in a 12-round fight without any reports signifying him undergoing a fitness trial. Neither has his inactivity being taken into account into approving this contest.
There are even more concerns surrounding this match-up as Barrios is likely set to make a record payday with this upcoming fight against Pacquiao; an arguably undeserving precedent given his only title defense as a WBC 147-pound champion culminated in a split-decision (SD) draw.
Coupled with fighting a senior-aged fighter that has been out of the ring for a number of years, both the WBC and NSAC appear to pose a genuine threat to the competiveness and integrity of the sport of boxing, as there had clearly been several capable and much younger contenders who deserved to make the cut to challenge for a world title.
On the basis of age and inactivity alone, Manny Pacquiao should be starting at the back of the line like any other fighter but has a reputation that exceeds the average expectations and rules of boxing. While there have been cases of fighters coming out of retirement to challenge for titles, most prominently Pacquiao’s rival and fellow legend Floyd Mayweather Jr., Pacquiao’s age of 46 makes him a highly irregular candidate and one of the few boxers in history to be put in this position at his age.
Then there is Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) whose own track record of questionable decisions puts it on par on WBC when it comes to damaging the sport, with the promotion unsurprisingly joining the WBC in an unprecedented move to commit what can only be construed as an attempt to assault the elderly.
