Manny Pacquiao has been linked to a ring return since the beginning of the year, but the Filipino icon may just go 2026 without stepping through the ropes.
Pacquiao made his professional comeback last July when he challenged for Mario Barrios’ WBC welterweight world title but could only muster a draw. He confirmed he would fight on and, it was assumed, compete for world honours once again in an attempt to set a new record as the oldest 147lb champion of all time – a title he already holds.
Outside of the title picture, a rematch with Floyd Mayweather was then announced, but legal complications led to it being postponed indefinitely.
Pacquiao was then rumoured to appear on the Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua undercard, only for ‘AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn to later reveal that any talks for that had also fallen through.
\PacMan’s manager, Sean Gibbons, has still refused to rule out the possibility of the 46-year-old fighting before the end of the year, telling ESNEWS that he expects the veteran to fight in either December or January.
“All I can say is that he is very actively speaking to a lot of entities about returning to the ring. We hope to see him in December or January at the latest. He needs to get into the ring and just shake it off because it has been a while since the Barrios fight.”
Gibbons seemed to maintain that Pacquiao’s next outing would be somewhat of a tune-up, but went on to then unveil a four-man list of possible opponents for the bout that follows it.
“I believe that, if he has one fight back, he can fight anybody. He could fight Conor Benn, he could fight Floyd, Ryan [Garcia], Conor McGregor, Paulie Malignaggi wants to fight him.”
Benn has recently stated that he recently turned down a showdown with Pacquiao for December, but said that he would be willing to accept the opportunity if the clash were to take place in the first quarter of 2027.
