HAMBURG, Germany – With the 62nd annual WBC Conference underway, combat supervisor Sean Gibbons is on the town to make a case for 2025 Worldwide Boxing Corridor of Fame inductee Manny Pacquiao to face Mario Barrios.
Conor Benn can also be right here chasing the Barrios combat, however it’s a contest that has been on Gibbons’ radar for Pacquaio for months.
Pacquiao, the 45-year-old Filipino legend, final boxed in 2021, dropping a choice to Yordenis Ugas on the T-Cell in Las Vegas whereas Texas’ Barrios had a hard-fought draw with Abel Ramos final month on the undercard of Jake Paul-Mike Tyson.
“Manny was simply in Dubai, and 2025 might be his final yr of actual aggressive boxing, and he’d nonetheless love the Mario Barrios combat, and a few individuals consider Manny actually has a shot in that combat, and that’s been the aim to make,” mentioned Gibbons. “So hopefully we are going to see what occurs right here on the WBC Conference, however he began with the [W]BC [international title]. What a strategy to exit, combating for a ‘BC title.”
With Benn eager to return to boxing within the UK in March, for the primary time since two failed assessments for clomifene and a well-documented battle to clear his title, Gibbons might be urgent the claims of Pacquiao, who, it was introduced final week, might be inducted into the IBHOF in Canastota, New York, in June.
“Manny is operating for senate subsequent yr within the Philippines, so throughout that point – you’ll be able to’t marketing campaign all day lengthy – he’ll have time to coach, put together, and July can be an ideal time,” Gibbons defined. “The senate election is Might 11, and the precise senate doesn’t begin till the final week of July. So the timing might be nice. It is going to be a little bit bizarre going into the Boxing Corridor of Fame and combating, however it will likely be typical of Manny’s life.”
Regardless of cash pouring into boxing from the Center East, Gibbons believes Pacquiao’s farewell may come on The Strip in Las Vegas, a metropolis he has lit up many instances up to now.
“You’ll take a look at Mario Barrios being with PBC, Mr. Al Haymon, who’s completed Manny Pacquiao’s final three or 4 fights, and he’s the one one who’s stepped up. There’s been a number of discuss doing stuff, however Al Haymon’s the one one which’s put his cash the place his mouth and promotions are. So if the Barrios combat occurs, it will likely be below the banner of PBC. I’d assume Las Vegas can be the right means for Manny to exit. Manny got here in in Vegas [against Lehlo Ledwaba]; he can exit in Vegas.”
