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The World Boxing Council took its first steps towards sanctioning former champion Manny Pacquiao to fight for its world title again, entering the living legend into their latest welterweight rankings at number 5.
The 46-year-old Pacquiao, 62-8-2 (39 KOs), has not fought since August of 2021, when he lost to Yordenis Ugas by unanimous decision. The news comes as little surprise as a fight between Mario Barrios and Pacquiao has been discussed since last summer, when the San Antonio native Barrios was elevated to full champion after Terence Crawford moved up to 154lbs.
The Barrios-Pacquiao fight has been rumored to take place on July 19 in Las Vegas, with a press conference set for Tuesday, May 20 in Los Angeles to announce Pacquiao’s likely return.
Barrios, who will turn 30 on Sunday, has a pro record of 29-2-1 (18 KOs) and last fought in November, retaining his belt by split decision draw against Abel Ramos. The 6-foot Barrios is nearly six inches taller than Pacquiao, but often gives up his height in order to exchange punches.
Pacquiao's likely bid for a fifth welterweight title reign will be preceded by his induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, which will take place from June 5-8 in Canastota, New York.
Text messages to WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman and MP Promotions President Sean Gibbons were not responded to at the time of this story’s publication.
Pacquiao’s move into the rankings coincides with Election Day in the Philippines, where Pacquiao was among the senate candidates on the ballot. Pacquiao appears unlikely to regain the senate spot he occupied from 2016 to 2022 as he’s currently positioned no. 18 in vote tallies, with over 80 percent of the votes counted on Monday evening U.S. time, with only the top twelve candidates to be seated.
Pacquiao had opted in 2022 to run for Philippine president rather than seek re-election, finishing a distant third with 6.8 percent of the vote.
Despite announcing his retirement in 2021, Pacquiao kept busy with a pair of exhibitions, in December of 2022 against South Korean YouTuber DK Yoo, and in July of 2024 against Japanese MMA fighter Rukiya Anpo.
Pacquiao isn’t the only former champion to enter the rankings. Eimantas Stanionis, fresh off losing his WBA title in a unification fight last month against Jaron Ennis, entered the latest rankings at number 8. Pacquiao and Stanionis, who coincidentally also trains at Wild Card Boxing in Los Angeles, are replacing Jin Sasaki and Karen Chukhadzhian in the rankings. Sasaki, 19-1-1 (17 KOs), was removed after deciding to challenge WBO titleholder Brian Norman Jnr for his belt on June 19 in Tokyo, while Chukhadzhian, 24-3 (13 KOs), was moved down from number 14 to number 16 after defeating Argentina's Cristian Javier Ayala by unanimous decision last Saturday in Germany.
Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.