World Boxing News can exclusively reveal that boxing legend Manny Pacquiao hopes to hold talks over a possible UK fight in December.
Having landed in London for the Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois fight as a Riyadh Season VIP guest, Pacquiao will look to make use of his time in England. Manny Pacquiao Promotions President Sean Gibbons informed WBN that the Filipino superstar is open to fighting on British soil after missing out on a fight with Mario Barrios.
As WBN also reported first, Barrios and Pacquiao held talks regarding a WBC welterweight title clash later this year. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out the way Gibbons had hoped, and Barrios will now feature on the Mike Tyson undercard in two months at AT&T Stadium, Texas.
Due to that ‘ship sailing,’ Pacquiao is looking for a huge event, and several names will be considered significant enough to be potential opponents.
Gibbons exclusively told World Boxing News, “We are here in town, we are in London, and we will be attending the Joshua fight. Manny would love to end his career in England. The thought was that before he makes his way into the political field in 2025, he’d like to do one more fight and like to finish his career in England. What better place than where boxing started?
“We will see what we can come up with while we are here, but we plan to talk to Ben [Shalom] over a fight on Sky Sports, possibly before the Usyk vs Fury rematch in December.”
Amir Khan and Conor Benn cropped up in the conversation, and Kell Brook was mentioned as another potential taker. Harlem Eubank has the name, if not the profile yet, as Pacquiao seeks to star inside a UK arena before the Christmas holidays.
“The Khan fight has been talked about for fifteen years and at various times has tried to be made,” pointed out Gibbons. “I think that would be a very fun fight due to where they are both at with their careers. We also talked about Conor – if he’s off his suspension, that would be tremendous in December. So whatever it is, Manny would love to fight here in England.”
More details will emerge as Pacquiao and Gibbons delve into more in-depth negotiations, but the chances of the UK headliner coming to fruition will hinge on this weekend. The fact that Turki Alalshikh will also attend can only help the situation.
“Manny has a tremendous amount of British fans from over the years,” stated Gibbons. “For now, there’s nothing in the US for Manny to consider. England is a tremendous market, and in some ways, it’s bigger for Manny Pacquiao here since he’s never fought here. It will be like the fans seeing a living legend, a Hall of Famer, and getting to see him up close and personal.
“So staging a big fight here in London or Manchester would be a perfect way for Manny to end his career. We hope we can make it happen. We will speak to Ben to give all the British fans a chance to see a boxing legend in action before he retires.”
Khan and Benn would undoubtedly be the frontrunners, as both have called out Pacquiao over the past few months. Khan still pines to trade blows with his former training partner after missing out on a fight more than once during their careers.
Regarding Benn, the current ranked contender hopes to get clearance to fight following a suspension and aims to return around the same time.
It was also confirmed to WBN that any fight agreed would be a full professional contest and stated, “We’d like to have the WBC silver title on the line to give the winner an incentive moving forward.”
Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
