Manny Pacquiao offered rematch against 53-year-old legend

Manny Pacquiao was offered the chance to share the ring with a former rival after missing out on the opportunity to fight Mario Barrios.

Pacquiao had been in line for a crack at the WBC welterweight title against Barrios until advisor Sean Gibbons informed World Boxing News that the boxing legend’s ‘ship had sailed.’ Amir Khan was targeted next for London talks before Pacquiao’s intentions went quiet again.

As Pacquiao approaches his 46th birthday in a few weeks, a man he beat in 2011 has laid down a challenge. Shane Mosley, a now 53-year-old ex-Pound for Pound star, wants to battle the ‘Pac-Man’ after returning to action in an exhibition.

Mosley participated in a ‘Celebrity Boxing’ bout against a Philadelphia trainer, dominating the contest from start to finish. He looked good for his age but nowhere near the required level to face Pacquiao, who is nine years younger.

“Pacquiao. I want to fight Pacquiao, man,” Mosley told Fight Hub TV after his win over the unheralded Bob Kofroth. Mosley then turned most of his attention to Oscar De La Hoya for a fight that would never happen. The Golden Boy boss has already ruled out ever returning to the ring.

“I would fight Oscar [De La Hoya], but Oscar doesn’t wanna fight,” pointed out Mosley. “He’s been talking all this mess [about me coming back at 53], but he doesn’t want to fight. I don’t understand it. He should keep my name out of his mouth.

“I wasn’t even talking about him, but he came up and started talking about me. He’s just jealous because I beat him two times. But we might as well do it a third time, with him talking all this mess. He doesn’t want that smoke, though. He really doesn’t.”

‘Sugar’ Shane already shows signs of wear and tear when he speaks, so it would be best to avoid any notion of Pacquiao. The De La Hoya fight is a non-starter in itself but still raises the debate of boxers fighting in their fifties.

WBN spoke out about it as a possibility a decade ago, and the writing was on the wall then. Ten years later, it might still take a catastrophic incident before retired fighters fully understand the message.

– If you use these WBN quotes, please link back to the source: https://www.worldboxingnews.net/2024/10/02/manny-pacquiao-offered-sad-alternative-to-wbc-title-shot/