More than a year ago, Manny Pacquiao suffered the eighth loss of his career at the hands of Yordenis Ugas. After the fight was finished, it was clear what would happen next. Pacquiao had ambitious plans to run for president in his home country of the Philippines. However, it was not clear if he would ever return to the ring. This week, the 12-time world champion offered a few thoughts regarding what he planned to do next.
Manny Pacquiao has not fought in more than a year, but he is open to returning to the sport of boxing for a major fight. During a recent press session, he explained that he’d be willing to fight either Errol Spence Jr. or Terence Crawford in the near future.
“Why not? If that’s possible. We’ll see the result first. I will watch,” Pacquiao said about fighting the winner of an undisputed welterweight title fight featuring Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford.
Pacquiao has not shied away from fighting some of the younger champions. At nearly 38 years old, he handed Jessie Vargas the second loss of his professional career and won the WBO Welterweight Championship. Nearly three years later, he beat Keith Thurman and Adrien Broner to win the “Regular” and “Super” WBA Welterweight Championships. Most recently, he signed on to fight Errol Spence Jr. in 2021, but the Texas native was forced to pull out of the bout with an injury.
As for his potential opponents, Crawford and Spence Jr. have been working towards a potential bout. While it appears that the framework of the deal has been sorted out, other details are still being negotiated. At the moment, it appears that the bout could still take place in the first quarter of 2023.
