Boxing

Manny Pacquiao Doesn't Approve Of Son's Professional Boxing Career

Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao got blunt when speaking about his son Jimuel's transition to professional boxing.
Grant Young|
Hall of Fame boxing legend and 8 division world champion Manny Pacquiao trains on June 11, 2025.
Hall of Fame boxing legend and 8 division world champion Manny Pacquiao trains on June 11, 2025. | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Manny Pacquiao's return to the ring against Mario Barrios on July 19 (in a bout that puts Barrios' WBC welterweight belt on the line) will be a family affair. This is because Pacquiao's 24-year-old son Jimuel is expected to make his professional boxing debut on the undercard of his 46-year-old father’s fight.

Jimuel (whose actual name is Emmanuel) amassed a 6-4 amateur boxing record, but lost four consecutive fights at one point. Therefore, there was some natural hesitation from Manny about whether his son was truly cut out for the sweet science. And in a June 19 article from Geoffrey Gray in Alta Magazine, Manny Pacquiao made a blunt admission about his son's boxing dreams.

“I don’t approve,” Manny is quoted telling his son about his professional boxing aspirations. However, Jimuel was persistent, which ultimately swayed Manny enough to (reluctantly) allow Jimuel to be a part of his upcoming camp for the Barrios fight.

“OK, I’ll download the secrets of boxing to you," Manny said to his son Jimuel.

The father-son concern for this July 19 fight isn't limited to Manny being worried about Jimuel. When speaking with FightHype on May 18, Jimuel got honest about his concern about his 46-year-old father fighting.

"I mean, it makes sense," Jimuel said about people having concerns about his father fighting against Barrios. "He's 46 now. And even me, as his son, I love him, he's my dad. There's also concern there, you know?

"But I believe in him. He has shown us that he stays in shape year around and all that. So weight is not gonna be a problem, fitness is not gonna be a problem," he added.

Time will tell whether either of the Pacquaio's concerns about the other are warranted once July 29 rolls around.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.