Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao won’t fight in 2020, but if the COVID-19 situation clears up he would likely fight sometime in 2021 to defend his WBA welterweight title.
Pacquiao hasn’t fought since July of 2019 a little over a year ago, and time is not on his side since he is in his 40s and the longer he waits the older he gets and father time could catch up to him in his next bout.
If I were to play matchmaker for the 41-year-old ring legend, I would try to make a fight with Mikey Garcia next.
Garcia is one of the best fighters in boxing with only one loss on his record when he went all the way to welterweight to fight the feared undefeated champion Errol Spence Jr. at the Dallas Cowboys stadium.
Most boxing fans felt he would get knocked out by the much bigger Spence but he proved them wrong by going the distance and being able to take all the power shots without getting hurt.
Pacquiao has stated he would like to have one last fight in the Philippines in front of his countrymen before he retires but most of the fighters refuse to fight him in his own backyard even though he is the draw.
When popular YouTube boxing reporter ESNEWS asked Mikey Garcia if he would fight Manny Pacquiao in the Philippines, Garcia said yes and he would fight him anywhere.
“I’ll fight him [Pacquiao] anywhere,” Garcia told ESNEWS. “It don’t matter where the fights at. The ring don’t change does it? Is there like six corners all of a sudden or two corners? Four corners, four ropes, same thing.”
The one thing Garcia said he would miss most if he had to fight Pacquiao during the COVID-19 pandemic is the fans, and fighting in an almost empty venue would make him miss out on the ring walk and hearing and seeing the fans.
Garcia is a worthy choice of opponent for Pacquiao and I think it would be the best opponent because Garcia is an action fighter who is willing to fight in the Philippines, they sparred before and it has the Philippines vs. Mexico rivalry that made Pacquiao famous when he fought at featherweight.
Erwin Lastimosa is a long time boxing fan and enjoys boxing discussion with his peers. Some of his favorite fighters are Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Marvin Hagler, Muhammad Ali, Flash Elorde, Mike Tyson and Manny Pacquiao.