Will Manny Pacquiao Return To Action Soon?

You may not want to hold your breath for a 2020 return for Manny Pacquiao (62-7-2).

Pacquiao hasn’t been seen competing inside the boxing ring since July 20, 2019. He defeated Keith Thurman via split decision to become the WBA (Super) Welterweight Champion. It was Pacquiao’s third win in a row and while he has added gold to his already stacked mantle, don’t expect him to do battle in 2020.

Speaking to Boxing Scene, renowned trainer Freddie Roach said he anticipates Pacquiao will sit out the rest of this year.

“He won’t fight this year,” Roach said. “But if this ever goes away – and I’m not sure it will because it’s getting worse and worse, not better and better – but I think Manny will fight once or twice more before he becomes the president of his country. And then he will retire.”

As a senator in the Philippines, Pacquiao is swamped with other duties. The COVID-19 pandemic certainly adds to the list of tasks Pacquiao must stay on top of outside of boxing. If “Pac-Man” does indeed sit out the remainder of 2020, then he won’t be inside the boxing ring until he is 42 years old. Of course, that’s if he were to return before his birthday in 2021.

Roach is confident that Pacquiao isn’t done with the sport of boxing but he feels things have to clear up with the coronavirus before a decision is made.

“He will fight again, I feel, and from when I’ve talked to him, he wants to fight once or twice more. But the thing is, it could be anywhere from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia, anywhere. They were talking about Mikey Garcia and I said, ‘Yeah, that’s the perfect fight for Manny.’ But I don’t think we’ll really know until this [pandemic] is over.”