Manny Pacquiao out of retirement to face world welterweight champion

Filipino boxing legend, Manny Pacquiao, is coming out of retirement to challenge world welterweight champion Mario Barrios.

The 46-year-old boxer is scheduled to face the 30-year-old Mexican-American Barrios in Las Vegas on 19 July, nearly four years after his last professional fight.

Pacquiao is the only boxer to have won world championships in a record eight weight divisions and was also the oldest welterweight world champion in history at the age of 40 in 2019.

A senator in the Philippines from 2016 to 2022, he retired from boxing in 2021, and ran for president the year after.

His team announced his comeback last week, just hours after he conceded defeat in a bid for another seat in his country’s Senate.

Pacquiao’s rags-to-riches life story and legendary career brought honour to the Philippines where he is known as the “People’s Champ”.

He will be enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame on 8 June.