Manny Pacquiao and Devin Haney have engaged in an unexpected battle, hoping to secure the same world champion opponent at 147lbs.
Pacquiao ended a four-year layoff and returned to a professional ring against Mario Barrios, the WBC world welterweight champion, in July.
In the end, the 46-year-old Filipino was forced to come away with a rather controversial draw, despite having given a strong effort against his far younger, albeit less accomplished, opponent.
Haney, meanwhile, was crowned the new WBO world welterweight champion after dropping, outpointing and ultimately dethroning Brian Norman Jr last month.
Shortly after his victory, the 27-year-old expressed his desire to face Ryan Garcia, his former foe, who is reportedly set to lock horns with Barrios in February.
Haney and Garcia had engaged in a heated build-up to their clash in April 2024, with the latter’s majority decision victory eventually being overturned to a no-contest due to his failed drugs test.
So now, while ‘King Ry’ seems to have already secured his next outing, it would appear that Haney has instead turned his attention towards WBA world welterweight champion Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero, who outpointed Garcia in May.
Speaking with Seconds Out, the three-weight world champion’s father, Bill Haney, confirmed their interest in the potential unification dustup.
“We’re looking for a guy by the name of ‘Rolly’ Rolando Romero. Yeah, the guy with the big awkward style, that more importantly beat a guy that we don’t like [Garcia]. That’s the guy we want.”
While Romero is seemingly being targeted by Team Haney, the 30-year-old has reportedly already engaged in talks for a possible showdown with Pacquiao next year.
Speaking with ESPN, Pacquiao’s long-time manager, Sean Gibbons, highlighted ‘Rolly’ as the ‘perfect opponent’ for his client in January.
“2026 will be a new year with new beginnings and hopefully a new opponent.
“I think the perfect time for Manny to make a statement to come back is January, and I think the perfect opponent is Rolly Romero.”
In pursuit of the Pacquiao fight, Romero has requested a delay to his WBA mandatory obligation against Shakhram Giyasov.
The team of Giyasov, however, has claimed that no such request should be granted when the showdown between Romero and Pacquiao has not yet been confirmed.
