How did ‘retired’ Pacquiao bypass 9 ‘active’ contenders for world crown

“Boxing is the only sport you can get your brain shook, your money took and your name in the undertaker book.”

—Joe Frazier

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

YOU may be wondering why boxing—both professional and amateur—is fast losing credibility.

You may also wonder why, as the UFC gains meteoric popularity, the faith of many fans in prizefighting is eroding.

Meanwhile, the most fundamental and very valid question every boxing fan should be asking right now is, “How did an aging and once retired professional boxer like former world champion Manny Pacquiao earn an automatic right to fight for a legitimate world boxing title?”

It boggles the mind, intriguing to say the least, and reeks of anomaly. But it is happening.

On July 19, 2025, 46-year-old Pacquiao (62-8-2, 39 KOs) returns to the square jungle for the first time in almost four years as a “challenger” to World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight crown holder, 30-year-old Mario Barrios (29-2-1, 18 KOs).

The 12-round championship setto has been officially announced to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, controversial venue of the Filipino buzzsaw’s bloodiest and most dramatic ring sagas these past 25 years.

 

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If Pacquiao, a defeated presidential and subsequently senatorial candidate in the Philippines in the past two elections, retired after absorbing a heartbreaking 12-round unanimous decision loss to Yordenis Ugas (27-6, 12 KOs) in August 2021 at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, how did he become instant challenger without defeating any of the nine “active” WBC rated 147-lb contenders?

For the record, the top 10 contenders in the WBC welterweight division are: 1. Devin Haney (US); 2. Souleymane Cissokho (France); 3. Conor Benn (Great Britain); 4. Raul Curiel (Mexico); 5. Egidijus Kavaliauskas (Lithuania); 6. Thulani Mbenge (South Africa); 7. Eimantas Stanionis (Lithuania); 8. Abel Ramos (US); 9. Alexis Rocha (US); 10. Samuel Molina (Spain).

Aren’t they more deserving to earn a crack at Barrios’ crown by virtue of their hard-earned ratings and being more active in the ring? Surprisingly, no one from among the elite 10 contenders has cried favoritism.  

If all of them have willingly decided to pave the way for the Filipino “senior citizen”, will their collusion not destroy boxing’s credibility, which is already reeling from tons of controversy and accusations of favoritism and corruption?

Pacquiao, boxing’s only eight-division former champion, wasn’t even rated in the top 40 of WBC welterweight division being lorded by Barrios.

 

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If the top 10 contenders elect to play deaf and mute and allow the Team Pacquiao train to railroad their own chances of earning a title shot at Barrios, then how about the the 30 other contenders (those rated from No. 11 to 40) Pacquiao had sidestepped?

How did the comebacking Filipino fistic hero bypass the 40 “active” contenders in his division to shortcut his way to the WBC 147-lb championship?

The WBC's rules, according to ESPN’s Andreas Hale, state that “a former champion can request a title fight after coming out of retirement.”

Ironically, age limit wasn’t categorically emphasized in this puzzling WBC rule for the returning former world champions. Isn’t this WBC rule on automatic world title challenge unfair and absurd?

What if the once-retired former champion is “too old” to participate in a violent contact sport like professional boxing?

Thrifty five years old is considered “too old” in professional boxing. At 46, Pacquiao will try to become the first prizefighter to win the world crown as a Hall of Famer.

Most of boxing’s Hall of Famers were either already six feet below the ground or wheelchair-bound if not bed-ridden.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor-in-chief of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)