Having lost in the Philippine presidential election earlier this year, future hall-of-famer Manny Pacquiao has decided to come out of boxing retirement to make a couple of returns to the ring, albeit in exhibitions, coming soon.
Pacquiao had already announced with little fanfare in August that he would go to South Korea and take part in a six-round exhibition with YouTube star DK Yoo on December 10. Now, he too has apparently agreed to an exhibition with a real lightweight fighter, who is 18-0 in the ring, early next year.
The Manila Times reported on Tuesday that “Pac-man” will fight prospect Jaber Zayani of France in an eight-round bout that will apparently take place in Saudi Arabia in February. His newspaper and website say that Pacquiao agreed Monday at his home to fight Zayani, who is his former training partner, and signed the contract for the fight with Saudi Prince Al-Walid Ben Talal and its Elite Sports Athletes promotion.
Former Senate Representative Pacquiao officially entered the presidential race when he retired after his August loss to Yordeis Ugas by 12-round decision last August. Pacquiao prominently announced in a video that he was walking away from the sport after a career that saw him win world championships in eight different divisions.
However, the highly competitive presidential election was won by the son of former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. Pacquiao did not come close to challenging Marcos for the vote. So did that lead to the natural questions about a possible return of the ring?
Pacquiao, 62-8-2, walked away with tens of millions of dollars in professional earnings and a Hall of Fame career that saw him defeat Marco Antonio Barerra, Erik Morrales, Ricky Hatton, Oscar De La Hoya and Miguel. Cotto.
Pacquiao was scheduled to fight unified welterweight champion Errol Spence for the fight in August of last year. However, Spence suffered an eye injury just two weeks before the pay-per-view and was replaced by Cuban Ugas. Ugas dominated Pacquiao with his jab and long right hands and the Filipino star looked aged in the ring.
There is still some belief that Pacquiao would try to fight Spence, but the WBC/IBF/WBA champion is in strong private negotiations to fight WBO champion Terence Crawford, probably in November.
So now Pacquiao, who turns 44 in December, will apparently be content to fight exhibitions, although the fight with Zayani is against a prospect who is 18-0 with 11 KOs. Zayani is familiar with Pacquiao, as he was one of his main training partners when Pacquiao beat American Keith Thurman in the summer of 2019.
“I was honest with the senator that I am looking at this as my biggest opportunity, which I will surely make the most of. My goal is to create a buzz and become a household name. Sure, the organizers call this an exhibition, but for me, it’s an opportunity to showcase my talent as a future world champion,” Zayani told the newspaper on Tuesday.
