Manny Pacquiao To Return in July

Legendary Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao might not be facing Conor McGregor after all. The WBA welterweight champion will reportedly have his next fight in July, around one year since his last fight. Pacquiao won the belt on July 20, 2019 in a split decision against Keith Thurman at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Rumors surfaced about Pacquiao’s interest in fighting UFC star Conor McGregor but they have cooled down.

Pacquiao was interviewed by Filipino TV and said that “Mikey Garcia, Errol Spence, or (Terence) Crawford” are among his possible opponents. Pacquiao and his team were serious about the dream match with McGregor. Pac-Man even signed with Paradigm recently (they also manage McGregor). It seems that the UFC doesn’t want to sacrifice one of their biggest stars and drawing cards in a boxing fight again.

Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) is a top star in boxing and one of the biggest draws in the sport. Mikey Garcia, Errol Spence or Terence Crawford would all be very intriguing opponents that would make this a big fight.

Spence (26-0, 21 KOs) and Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) would be favored against the 41-year-old Pacquiao. Spence and Crawford are in their primes. Hopefully Spence doesn’t have lingering issues from his car accident last fall.

Garcia (40-1, 30 KOs) beat Jessie Vargas for the vacant WBC Diamond welterweight title on February 29 at The Ford Center at The Star, Frisco.

“I would love to take on a fight with Manny Pacquiao,” Garcia told Heavy.com. “But I think I have to show I’m really a solid contender at welterweight. If this fight goes well and I perform well, I think that fight might be next.”