After two years away from the ring, Manny Pacquiao will make his long-awaited return to Boxing later this summer against Errol Spence Jr. on August 21st, as announced on his Twitter on Friday.
Pacquiao had been considering a return to the fight game over the past few weeks after a long layoff. Spence is one of the top welterweights in the world and is coming off a dominant performance against Danny Garcia to retain the WBC and IBF welterweight titles last December.
Pacquiao was originally expected to fight Terence Crawford next month in Abu Dhabi but the management on both sides wasn’t able to meet the financial deadlines. He last competed against Keith Thurman in mid-2019, earning a split-decision win and earning the WBA welterweight title.
During his time away from the sport, it was also rumored that Pacquiao was close to a fight agreement to take on UFC star Conor McGregor in a boxing match, but negotiations never materialized. McGregor will face Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in a trilogy lightweight bout.
Pacquiao has won three straight fights since his controversial loss to Jeff Horn, in which many around the boxing community felt that he deserved the victory.
The bout adds to an eventful month in boxing, and the announcement comes just hours after the trilogy between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder was verbally agreed and near-booked for July 24th.
On June 6th, one of Pacquiao’s greatest rivals, Floyd Mayweather will box YouTuber Logan Paul in an exhibition match in Miami.
The 42-year-old Pacquiao has the opportunity to make a big return to boxing against one of the sport’s very best. Spence will enter the bout with a record of 27-0, including 21 wins by knockout.
What do you think about Manny Pacquiao making his return to boxing against Errol Spence in August? What are your early predictions for the fight?