Filipino boxing star Manny Pacquiao will return to the ring at 42, after two years without a fight, in an attempt to snatch the WBC and IBF welterweight belts from American Errol Spence on August 24 in Las Vegas.
It was Pacquiao himself who made the announcement on his Twitter account on Friday, posting a poster of the event which will be broadcast in « pay per view » (fee-for-service).
“I like to challenge the best”, he told The Athletic, adding that this fight “ could be (his) last ”, possibly at Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders (NFL) football team.
The last time he boxed was in July 2019, when he beat Keith Thurman to win the WBA welterweight belt. But failing to have then defended it, the Federation in question deprived him at the end of January of this title which now belongs to Cuban Yordenis Ugas.
« Pac-Man », who had initially announced that he wanted to play a fight against Irish superstar mixed martial arts (MMA) Conor McGregor, had tried to mount another against the rising star of the lightweight category, the American Ryan Garcia. He was also in negotiations to face Terence Crawford, WBO welterweight champion.
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It is finally against the other cador of the category that he will try to return to the top. The 31-year-old Spence is a serious client having won all 27 fights (including 21 before the limit) he has played. He added the WBC title to his record by dethroning Shawn Porter in September 2019, just before being close to death in a car accident.
In December 2020, he had kept it at the expense of Danny Garcia.
World champion in eight different categories, from flyweight to super-welterweight, Pacquiao (62 wins, 7 losses, 2 draws) has managed to lead, for a few years, a political career in the Philippines, where he is elected senator, all by continuing to box at the highest level. “I am faster and stronger” than Spence, he told The Athletic.
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