Manny Pacquiao has been accused of avoiding a world champion who, if they ever happen to meet in the ring, believes the Filipino legend would get ‘flatlined’.
The 47-year-old returned from a near four-year hiatus in July, with many feeling he had done enough to dethrone Mario Barrios, the then-WBC welterweight champion, in Las Vegas.
With their closely-contested encounter ending in a draw, though, Pacquiao was ultimately unable to enhance his legacy as an eight-division world champion.
It has now been announced that he is set for a rematch with Floyd Mayweather in September, having initially been linked to a battle against Rolando Romero, who was elevated from ‘regular’ to full WBA champion last year.
Romero initially claimed the secondary belt with a unanimous decision victory over Ryan Garcia, who suffered a second-round knockdown during their one-sided showdown in May.
But while Romero has been called out by several operators at 147lbs, including Conor Benn, he is still yet to make a maiden defence of his WBA title.
This, he claims, is because fighters such as Pacquiao, Benn and even Garcia, who dethroned Barrios for the WBC title last week, have been actively avoiding him.
Speaking with K.O. Artist Sports, the 30-year-old expressed his frustration, naming Pacquiao as one of the culprits for him not landing a meaningful opportunity.
“Honestly, it’s crazy how avoided I am right now. I had [however] many fights lined up, and they [his potential opponents] all pulled out.
“We’ve got Ryan [Garcia], who’s obviously scared of me. We’ve got Manny [Pacquiao], who doesn’t want to get flatlined. And we’ve got ‘Slim Shady’ [Benn] who doesn’t want anything to do with me now.”
Romero does, of course, have a mandatory challenger in the form of Shakhram Giyasov, who has been waiting patiently for his world title shot.
Towards the end of last year, the Uzbek’s manager Vadim Kornilov revealed that they are awaiting a purse bid, believing the WBA has dragged this process on long enough.
