Manny Pacquiao made his return to the ring this past weekend, fighting to a majority draw against WBC Welterweight World Champion Mario Barrios.
Though the Filipino fighting great did not get the nod on the cards and failed to break his own record as the division’s oldest ever champion, many feel he did enough to win and that even being competitive was a victory given the controversy around the return.
Though a rematch is a possibility, Pacquiao may also look to bigger names should he continue his comeback as he has said he will. Active world champions may be hesitant to call him out as, despite an impressive performance for his age, he is many years out of his prime.
If Pacquiao wants to fight a man closer to his age, fellow Hall of Famer Shane Mosley put his name forward in an interview with Seconds Out.
“The motivation is to prove people wrong. To let them know that I’m the best. Sugar Shane Mosley is still here. I’m not an old grandpa, I’m still available and ready to fight. Manny Pacquiao is 46 years old, he just fought to a draw, people thought he won or whatever, he’s proving that age is just a number. It’s your mentality. I want to prove that.
“Actually, I want to fight Manny Pacquiao next, and then the winner fights Floyd Mayweather. I want to show the world I’m still here. You can’t get rid of me. When I want to leave, I’ll leave. I’m not ready to leave. I love boxing … 100% percent.”
Mosley and Pacquiao faced off back in May of 2011 for ‘PacMan’s WBO Welterweight World Title, with the champion winning a wide unanimous decision to retain the belt.
‘Sugar’ Shane, a three-weight world champion, would fight his last professional bout in 2016 – a loss to David Avanesyan – boasting a record of 49 wins from 61 fights. However, the 56-year-old makes his own return to the ring, albeit on a much lower scale than Pacquiao’s, at the Indigo O2 on July 25, facing Matt Floyd.