Manny Pacquiao is still intending to make a full boxing comeback despite his performance against Rukiya Anpo.
Pacquiao is now 46 and is far from his prime, where he reigned as boxing’s only ever eight-weight world champion in a phenomenal professional career.
Pacquiao took a beating against Anpo[/caption]
The Filipino legend recently returned in an exhibition against Japanese kickboxer Anpo in July, and really struggled, taking a beating in a contest which was luckily not scored.
He had spoken of his ambitions to make a full return to the professional ranks and challenge for a world title, with a shot against Mario Barrios touted.
But after his display, there were widespread calls to shelve his plans and it appeared to be on the back-burner.
Although his long-term advisor Sean Gibbons has insisted the door is now back open for a return, with early in 2025 now seen as realistic.
“He’s running for Senate in the Phillippines from February 11 to May 11,” Gibbons told Boxing Scene.
“If he gets something by January 31, 2025 he’s ready to rumble. I don’t know what’s going to happen after that.
“With Manny, he could be fighting until he’s 50. I told Manny that the Barrios fight was the perfect fight to make.
“Things got in the way with certain people in his ear, but that fight is still possible. It could happen in June, July, or August – one last one.”
Gibbons went on to explain that Pacquiao was underprepared for his exhibition, and believes he would perform much better if he was to return again.
“Manny didn’t look as good against Anpo because of a lot of things behind the scenes that went into it,” he continued.
Pacquiao looked a shadow of himself during the defeat[/caption]
“He didn’t overly prepare for it. He thought he was fighting someone else and it ended up being a bigger guy.
“He felt great. What else can you do? It was an exhibition. He was there just to move around. The other guy thought it was a real fight.
“He came to make a name off of Manny and Manny still easily cruised through the thing for a guy that got off the couch.”
Anpo was Pacquiao’s tallest-ever opponent but had limited boxing experience, so was a surprise aggressor in the fight.
The icon looked a shadow of himself and badly aged as he struggled to deal with the size and speed of his rival.
Pacquiao retired after defeat to Yordenis Ugas in 2021, coming up short in a world title bout.
So it appears unlikely that he could roll back the years and dethrone a current king, several years on from his heyday.
And promoter Ben Shalom believes his gloves are best left down, despite acknowledging the reasons for his return plan.
He told talkSPORT.com: “I think it’s so hard for fighters, you have seen it in the Olympics with athletes coming back.
“We’ve seen so many fighters come back, you always think back to Muhammad Ali and the damage that those last fights had on his life.
“It is very hard as a promoter to say it, but equally if you have enough money in the bank you have to protect your health.
“I think it showed in that exhibition that it really should be the end, but ultimately stranger things have happened.
“As I say fighters are addicted to that buzz and it is very hard to replace it in those final years.”
