“Technically he’s out of retirement,” said Manny Pacquaio‘s agent Sean Gibbons last year, sending the boxing world into chaos. The eight-division world champion’s retirement from professional boxing in 2021 left a hole in every boxing fan’s heart that might never be filled. However, as Gibbons teased a return of the Filipino legend last year, fans were hopeful.
Gibbons told Boxing Scene that Pacquiao still has a lot of fight left in him. A match against the likes of Gervonta Davis or Ryan Garcia would bring him back to the squared circle. It has been a year since the revelation and the talks have more or less died down. However, ‘PacMan’ once again sent the boxing community into overdrive as he teased a potential comeback and also raised some points about Tank’s retirement announcement.
Manny Pacquiao returning to the ring?
On Monday, ES News uploaded an old video from the ‘IBA Champions’ Night’ on December 6 in Dubai, where they were able to talk with the Kibawe native. The interviewer once again asked Pacquiao about a possible return against either Ryan Garcia or Gervonta Davis. Back in October 2022, ‘PacMan’ had chosen ‘Tank’ as his ideal opponent to make his return against. He claimed, “Gervonta Davis is a good fighter. If he comes up to 147 (lbs), we can fight 145 (lbs), maybe. That’s not a problem for me.”
Artur Beterbiev, Terence Crawford and Manny Pacquiao together last night… pic.twitter.com/4Jt50CU4AO
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) December 7, 2024
Reflecting back on that statement, the 46-year-old stated that he is open to fighting either Garcia or Davis as ” Both of them are great fighters.” However, he would rather have the WBA lightweight champion as an opponent. He stated, “Good for Gervonta Davis,” picking his favorite out of the two.
Gervonta Davis dominantly defeated Ryan Garcia via a KO when the pair met in 2023. Furthermore, with all the controversy surrounding ‘KingRy’ at the moment and his inactivity from the ring, Manny Pacquiao made the right decision.
However, if he wants to make a comeback against the Baltimore native, he needs to be quick. Only a month ago, Tank announced that he would be retiring from the sport by the end of 2025. Keeping the retirement announcement in mind, the interviewer asked Pacquiao to judge Davis’ career and he had an interesting answer.
Is Gervonta Davis’ career worthy of HOF yet?
The IBA Champions Night in December was also a celebration of Filipino’s career as he was elected to the IBA Boxing Hall of Fame a few days earlier. The only eight-division champion in boxing history was selected for the honor in his first year of eligibility and was joined by Michael Nunn and Vinny Paz in the men’s modern boxers category.
Given the context of the situation, the interviewer asked the former Filipino senator whether he considered Tank to have a Hall of Fame-worthy career. The question surprised Pacquiao as he had no idea about Gervonta Davis’ retirement announcement. “Ohh it is retired, he got a lot of fights more,” exclaimed ‘PacMan.’
Another surprise was waiting for the legendary fighter as the interviewer informed him of the developments. Manny Pacquiao is indeed a huge fan of Gervonta Davis, as he has expressed many times earlier. Still, he is not entirely convinced that Tank’s career is Hall Of Fame worthy or not, yet. “Ohh next year? Okay. Uhmm, we will see, we will see,” stated PacMan. According to him, the WBA lightweight champion has to fight for a few more years before he can be certain.
Given the fact that the last few years of Gervonta Davis’ career have attracted more questions about his class of opponents, the uncertainty makes sense. He is currently scheduled to fight Lamont Roach in March, a fight that many boxing fans dislike since Roach is a super featherweight. He needs to have a blockbuster 2025 if he wants to shrug past every doubt.
Do you think a fight between Manny Pacquiao and Gervonta Davis makes sense? Let us know your thoughts down below.
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