Eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao made a sensational return to the ring last month.
The 46-year-old challenged reigning WBC world welterweight champion Mario Barrios on Saturday July 19 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Despite putting on an impressive display against the younger champion, the fight was declared a majority decision draw with two out of the three ringside judges scoring the contest 114-114 even, whilst the other had it 115-113 in favour of Barrios.
It was Pacquiao’s first ring appearance as a professional since he was beaten by former WBA world welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas in June of 2021, going on to announce his temporary retirement shortly after.
After going up against an abundance of generational greats throughout the course of his storied career, ‘PacMan’ has revealed the one fighter that he regrets facing in a shock claim.
Speaking to Business Insider, Pacquiao gave reasons for why he should never have faced former pound-for-pound great Floyd Mayweather Jr when he did.
“If I could change one thing in my career, I’d have asked to postpone my 2015 fight against Floyd Mayweather after hurting my shoulder in training.
I thought it was going to be okay and that I’d be feeling better without an operation after suffering that injury two weeks before the fight.
But my injury worsened after the third round. Pushing for that important fight to happen as scheduled is my biggest regret.”
Pacquiao and Mayweather finally clashed back in 2015, although many fans and analysts believe that their bout should have taken place at least five years earlier.
After an underwhelming 12-round battle, Mayweather picked up a comfortable unanimous decision victory over Pacquiao to unify the WBC, WBA and WBO world welterweight titles.