Manny Pacquiao has long since teased a professional ring return and this year has been no different.
The sport’s only eight-division world champion has been in talks with new WBC Welterweight Champion Mario Barrios to challenge for the title and word from both is progressing well
The hype surrounding such a return was dampened this past weekend in Japan though when Pacquiao returned for an exhibition fight against kickboxer Rukiya Anpo – a three round spectacle at the Saitama Super Arena in which fans and analysts felt he looked every bit his 45 years.
Post-fight, Ryan Garcia entered the ring and praised both men before offering to fight them. It now seems his appearance in Saitama was no coincidence and the Pacquiao callout has been in the works behind the scenes.
In a clip shared on social media platform X, the 25-year-old revealed the plans.
“I was [in Japan] doing a fight deal with Manny Pacquiao. I’m gonna fight him, yeah, an exhibition … I’m fighting Manny Pacquiao, guys, let’s get it. It’s coming soon. We’re trying to work on [a date], end of the year for sure. I’m trying to get more focused, stop drinking, stop doing a lot of the s**t I was doing.”
The news goes against Team Pacquiao’s well-documented talks with Barrios for a fight they say has to happen in December or before due to political commitments in the new year.
Garcia is currently banned from the sport after testing positive for a banned substance when facing WBC Super-Lightweight Champion Devin Haney. The news came within an extremely controversial period for the young fighter for which he has said he will seek help.
