Manny Pacquiao pushes to Floyd Mayweather after Mario Barrios: “He poured himself and avoided me”

When Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. entered the ring in the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 2, 2015, they accepted the richest struggle in boxing history.

Five years of marination had led to a commercial bonanza when 4.6 million Americans bought the fight for Pay-Per-View, and the live gate money from the ticket sales-astonishing $ 72 million. The event was gigantic, but in the end the fight in the ring was a disappointment. Mayweather used his defensive skills to offer a comfortable decision victory over Pacquiao to combine three belt weight.

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you say The old habits die hard, and more than a decade later, the 46 -year -old Pacquiao in the MGM Grand Garden Arena and fights for a world weight title against the WBC champion Mario Barrios.

“Naturally [I’d be interested]”Pacquiao said on Wednesday about a potential second fight against Mayweather. [the rematch].

“I don't want an exhibition with [Mayweather]I want a real fight. “

“It's been a long time [since the first fight]”Pacquiao added.” I want to give the fans a good fight between me and give [Mayweather]But he ducked and avoid me. “

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First, Pacquiao has a strict test in front of him in the form of Barrios on Saturday.

Barrios, 30, is a champion in his heyday. “El Azteca” was previously overlooked by opponents, but every time he has proven his caliber. Barrios earned himself from the boxing community after a competition battle with gervonta “tank” Davis in 2021. The world champion in the world weight pursued this with a defeat against Keith Thurman, but since then he has had a three-struggle victory, including a victory over Yordenis Ugas-, who retired Pacquiao in 2021.

“The reason [I’m coming back] Is boxing still my passion?

“The Ugas fights, I was distracted. There [were] So many distractions before the fight. “

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Pacquiao was supposed to get out with Errol Spence Jr. in August 2021, but Spence Jr. was exposed to a torn retina just 10 days before the event. After training and sparring for Spence, a south paw, Pacquiao took the Cuban Orthodox Ugas as a late replacement and was hit on points.

Although Pacquiao won in eight different weight classes and a Shoo-in for Boxing's Hall of Fame, he was not satisfied with his exit from sport and wanted to return to his lifelong passion.

“Two years [after I announced my retirement, I made the decision to come back]”Pacquiao unveiled.” I really missed the boxing. I really missed these days [in] Training camp, promoting the fight, everything. I consulted my family, my wife, and it only happened that my wife was present [gave me her blessing]. “

However, Pacquiao could not immediately return to the ring because the Filipino boxer was still in the middle of his Senate campaign. At the beginning of this year, however, Pacquiao took 18th place in the Philippine races for the Senate, which meant that he was able to bring his political ambitions – at least temporarily – onto the market and focused on becoming the oldest world champion in world weight in boxing history.

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“He is bigger than me and he is a champion,” said Pacquiao about Barrios. “It is not so easy to become a champion, so he has proven something that he can fight.”

Pacquiao has also been associated with a box match with the former UFC champion of two-division-UFC-Champion Conor McGregor in recent years. McGregor gave his professional box debut in 2017 and lost to Mayweather in the second largest struggle in boxing history, behind only Mayweather vs. Pacquiao.

“[We] Do that almost [fight] Complete, but there are so many problems with his manager, “said Pacquiao about negotiations for an McGregor fight.

In 2020, Pacquiao signed a contract with Paradigm Sports, which represents McGregor to organize a box match between the couples. However, no fight was run when McGregor lost to Dustin Poirier, and Pacquiao signed against Spence Jr. with Premier Boxing Champions.

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Pacquiao and Paradigm Sports have been involved in a legal dispute since the fight of the fight – a situation in which Pacquiao is still uncrawned and a potential struggle between himself and McGregor is difficult to organize for the time being.