Manny Pacquiao will return to boxing on July 19 to challenge Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight championship in Las Vegas, according to ESPN. It will be Pacquiao’s first professional fight in nearly four years.
The report confirms a plan WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman laid out on May 2.
“At this time, Mario Barrios is going to face Manny Pacquiao in July,” Sulaiman said. “That’s a tremendous fight.”
Pacquiao’s (62-8-2) last professional win was a split decision over Keith Thurman in July 2019, where he won the WBA welterweight title by split decision. The WBA later stripped Pacquiao due to inactivity.
Pacquiao hung up his gloves in 2021 after an unsuccessful attempt to reclaim the title against Yordenis Ugás, a competitive affair that Pacquiao lost via unanimous decision. After the loss, he said he was considering a rematch in 2022, but later announced his retirement via social media a month later.
In retirement, Pacquiao has faced martial artist DK Yoo and kickboxer Rukiya Anpo in exhibitions, and made a career turn into politics in his native Philippines. After serving as senator from 2016 to 2022, he ran for president during his final year in office, finishing third. He is currently running for Senate again, with the election for that race coming up on May 12.
Meanwhile, Barrios (29-2-1) will make his fourth ring walk since winning WBC welterweight gold in 2023. His record is 29-2-1, with his last loss coming against Thurman in February 2022.
Barrios, who turns 30 in May, most recently fought to a draw with Abel Ramos on the undercard of Jake Paul and Mike Tyson’s bout in November. Barrios won the interim WBC welterweight belt from Ugás, the man who retired Pacquiao, in September 2023.
Pacquiao will enter the International Boxing Hall of Fame on June 8, one month before his return fight. He is the only boxer in history to win major world titles in eight weight classes, and retired as a twelve-time world champion.
The fight will be streamed via PBC on Prime Video pay-per-view, ESPN reported.
(Photo: Yuichi Yamazaki / AFP via Getty Images)