By CARLO ANOLIN
Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao is set to return in the boxing ring soon.
Pacquiao, in a tweet early Wednesday morning, teased his supposed comeback since beating American boxer Keith Thurman last July 2019.
“Training camp has begun. I’m ready to get back in the ring and to further add to my legacy in the sport of boxing. Big news coming soon,” Pacquiao said through his official Twitter account, tagging Paradigm Sports Management and its CEO Audie Attar.
The eight-division world boxing champion, who holds a 62-7-2 record with 39 knockouts, has not fought since scoring a split decision victory against Thurman to capture the WBA super welterweight title.
The WBA, however, recently designated Pacquiao, 42, as a “champion in recess” due to inactivity, stripping of his WBA belt and naming Cuban boxer Yordenus Ugas as the current titleholder.
This prompted the Games and Amusements Board, in a letter Tuesday, Feb. 9, to ask the boxing sanctioning body for enlightenment regarding the decision.
Nonetheless, the biggest question of all is still left unanswered: Who will Pacquiao face next?
The likes of Ryan Garcia, Conor McGregor, Terence Crawford, Errol Spence Jr. were among the headlines on news outlets and social media platforms.
But Garcia (21-0, 18 KO), the undefeated interim WBC lightweight champion, was the first one to announce the “dream fight” against his idol Pacquiao.
In Pacquiao’s tweet, which has received 3.3k likes and 485 retweets as of this writing, some fans are also looking forward for either Crawford or Spence.
Crawford (37-0, 28 KO) holds the WBO welterweight belt while Spence (27-0, 21 KO) is a unified WBC and IBF titleholder in the same division.
The decision will all boil down to Pacquiao’s camp and the Paradigm Sports Management.
