By Norm Frauenheim
Few great careers are complete without a risky comeback or two and, sure enough, 46-year-old Manny Pacquiao is poised to made a second one six weeks after he’s inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
What has been rumored for weeks became official Thursday with an announcement from a Pacquiao spokesman that he’ll face welterweight champion Mario Barrios in his first bout in four years on July 19, probably in Las Vegas.
Why?
Why-oh-why?
The question is little bit like a comeback. It’s almost — thank you, Marvin Hagler — inevitable, even if a good answer rarely is.
Pacquiao, boxing’s only champion to win belts in eight different divisions, fought and lost a unanimous decision to Yordenis Ugas in his first comeback August 21, 2021 in Vegas. Mostly, that loss is remembered for his emotional, compelling post-fight news conference. He spoke like a statesman.
The next day, he formally announced his retirement in video posted on Facebook.
“Goodbye boxing, thank you for changing my life,” he said then.
Hello boxing, he said Thursday.
Plans have been in the works for awhile. Thursday’s formal news was preceded by online books posting opening odds earlier this week. That’s always a pretty good bet that a rumored fight is a done deal. Pacquiao is picked to lose to the 29-year-old Barrios, a San Antonio welterweight who opened as a minus-500 favorite.
I’m only hoping for odds that Pacquiao doesn’t get hurt. That’s the only bet I’d make.
In an interview with Sean Zittel after the fight was announced Thursday, trainer Stephen “Breadman” Edwards said it best.
Said it for us all.
“I don’t want to see a legend get hurt,’’ Breadman said.
Too often, however, it’s the risk that sells, and this one figures to sell very well on a busy July 19 that will include heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk-Daniel Usyk 2 at London’s Wembley Stadium and super-flyweight champ Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez in a title unification bid against Phumelela Cafu in Frisco, TX, a Dallas suburb. Reportedly, the Pacquiao-Barrios card will also include Sebastian Fundora-Tim Tszyu 2, a terrific rematch.
But much of the attention will be on Pacquiao, who is just the latest example of how celebrity is a lot more durable than a chin or foot speed.
Against Ugas, Pacquiao, then 42, looked every bit his age. Perhaps, his power — always the last thing to go — was still there then.
And now.
In 2021, however, he was never able to land much of a telling blow against Ugas, a slick fighter and former Olympian educated in Cuba’s elusive style. Barrios, the World Boxing Council’s 147-pound champion, looked vulnerable against Abel Ramos in a surprising draw last November on a card that drew worldwide interest because it featured aging Mike Tyson against Jake Paul. Tyson couldn’t move his feet or his head any more, either.
Ramos — an aggressive fighter from Casa Grande, south of Phoenix — wore down Barrios, taking him into the final rounds with stubborn pursuit and quick reflexes. Ramos, who deserves a rematch, is 33, 13 years younger than Pacquiao.
That brings us back to the beginning:
Why?
Why-oh-why?
Pacquiao, who will be formally inducted to the Hall in Canastota NY June 8, is as good a story as any. He’s been a people’s champ. Perhaps, The People’s Champ in a boxing history endlessly compelling because of them.
He was a forgotten kid who fought his way out and off a third-world country’s poorest streets and into the hearts of his fellow Filipinos.
He transformed himself into a worldwide celebrity, popular enough to become a Filipino Senator and even a Presidential contender. Politics cost a lot of money. Pacquiao— generous to a fault, if that’s possible — has been known to give away much of what he made in the ring to the poorest Filipinos. He bought meals, homes and fishing fleets.
But even the people move on, and now there are signs that has happened to Pacquiao, too. He failed in his second run for a Senate seat. It was announced Wednesday in the Philippines that he did not get enough votes to finish among the top 12 candidates for the Senate’s available seats.
Pacquiao, the Federal Party’s nominee, finished with 10,208,499 votes, leaving him in 18th place overall. Turns out, he went from 18th in Filipino politics to fifth in the WBC’s welterweight ratings. But that’s a different story for a different day.
The question here is about money. Does Pacquiao have to fight to pay his political bills? We’ll never really know. At heart, he’s still a fighter, still the name that captured hearts In the Philippines and everywhere else.
Maybe, he’s back just because he wants to re-live the ring moments that made him so captivating. But he doesn’t have to. His legacy is safe, no matter what happens on July 19. Forever, he’s a genuine legend.
That’s why, as Breadman says, we don’t want him to get hurt.
