With more sports coming back during COVID-19, the WBA world welterweight boxing champion Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao who is currently quarantined in the Philippines is eager to step back into the ring.
The 41-year-old champion who also works as a Senator in the Philippines told The Manila Times he is considering a fight with any of the top guys in the welterweight division.
He also said that the talk floating around the internet of him fighting IBF middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin at the limit of 160-pounds are not true, and that he would never fight at such a high weight, but if the powerful punching middleweight would come down in weight to 147-pounds or a catchweight he would be more than willing to entertain it.
Other possible opponents for the Filipino champion are Mikey Garcia, WBO champion Terence “Bud” Crawford, and WBC/IBF unified champion Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr.
With Spence defending his belts against Danny Garcia in November, that would leave him out of the picture for now.
Another name who has been thrown in the mix is UFC superstar Conor McGregor who is one of the biggest stars in all of combat sports.
McGregor made his pro boxing debut against Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. in 2017 and the bout generated millions of dollars in revenue. The crossover event was a smash hit on Pay-Per-View selling over 4 million buys.
The Irish UFC star would make close to $100 million for his loss to Mayweather. McGregor made the most money in his fighting career in the boxing ring and he would be more than willing to step back in the squared circle for another huge payday.
Pacquiao signed with McGregor’s management team Paradigm sports before the pandemic and the signing strengthened rumors that the two would eventually meet up, but with the coronavirus sports have been forced to take place without a live audience. A fight with Pacquiao and McGregor is a huge event and they would miss out on the live gate money a paid audience would generate.
UFC President Dana White still has McGregor under contract so if the fight were to get done, White would have to give his blessing similar to when McGregor faced Mayweather.
The front-runner seems to be Terence Crawford. Pacquiao’s former promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank, who currently handles Crawford, has been in talks with Pacquiao’s team. Arum was recently on the Ak and Barak show and told the hosts that he believes a Pacquiao vs. Crawford fight could get done if they receive a good enough offer from a venue willing to host the welterweight unification bout.
