Boxing

Manny Pacquiao Makes His Opinion Of Jake Paul Extremely Clear

Manny Pacquiao got honest when asked about Jake Paul's impact on boxing.
Grant Young|
Jake Paul is closing in to strike Julio Chavez Jr.'s face at the Honda Center in Anaheim California on June 29th, 2025.
Jake Paul is closing in to strike Julio Chavez Jr.'s face at the Honda Center in Anaheim California on June 29th, 2025. | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

July 19 is one of the best nights of boxing in recent memory, as there are several world-class bout set to take place on multiple different cards.

Perhaps the most compelling is the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Mario Barrios for Barrios' WBC welterweight belt. Given how big of a global superstar Pacquiao is, combined with the fact that he's 46 years old and hasn't fought a professional bout since 2021, it's going to guarantee a ton of eyeballs when he takes the ring against the much younger Barrios.

The last time that Pacquiao won a professional fight (which came against Keith Thurman on July 20, 2019), Jake Paul still had not fought as a professional, as his pro debut came in January 2020. Since then, Paul has amassed 13 professional fights (with a 12-1 record) while Pacquiao has only fought once more as a pro and also added two exhibition bouts.

Pacquiao did a July 15 interview on The Ariel Helwani Show. And at one point during the discussion, Pacquiao was asked his opinion about what Paul has done as a boxer.

"Jake Paul, he has a talent. He can fight in a real boxing match, so he can be a boxer," Pacquiao said, per an X post from Helwani.

When Pacquiao was then asked whether Paul has earned his respect, he added, "Yes, yes, yes. It's not good for the boxing industry to always have exhibition matches. Exhibition matches [are] okay, but not always exhibition, but need to always have an [evenly-matched] fight to entertain the fans."

Perhaps Pacquiao thought Jake Paul's November 2024 bout against Mike Tyson was an exhibition. Regardless, Pacquiao clearly holds no ill will toward what Paul has done in the sport.

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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.