Boxing

Shawn Porter Makes KO Pick For Manny Pacquiao’s Return Fight Against Mario Barrios

Shawn Porter has made a surprising KO pick for Manny Pacquiao's return against Mario Barrios.
Apratim Banerjee|
IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Manny Pacquiao's return lis official as the Filipino legend comes back to take on Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight title. Pacquiao has been ranked at #5 in the WBC welterweight ladder ahead of the fight.

Pacquiao is now 46 years old and his last professional fight was in 2021 against Yordenis Ugas. 'Pacman' didn't look his best in that fight after returning from a two year hiatus and suffered a unanimous decision loss.

His comeback at the age of 46 has therefore raised eyebrows and fans have started questioning whether it's a smart decision to return to the ring at this age. Former champions and commentator Shawn Porter has now given his take on the upcoming fight.

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Porter reminded fans that despite his age, he's still the legendary Manny Pacquiao, and believes Pacquiao's speed can get the job done against Barrios.

Speaking on The PorterWay Podcast show, the Hall of Famer said:

It’s so hard because he is Manny Pacquiao right? So it is what it is. He’s either gonna come to the ring and be able to be fast enough to get off the s**t that he used to get off on, and if he does he clocks him and he knocks him out. What I know without going into really deep detail, that left hand against that right hand, his left hand always gets there quicker than the other guys right hand, not only that, Azteca is a forward fighter, moving into that left hand so this is kind of a match made in heaven for Pacquiao.

Manny Pacquiao is a true boxing legend with a record of 62-8-2 with 39 knockouts. However, he will have to turn back the clock for his fight against Barrios.

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Apratim Banerjee
APRATIM BANERJEE

Apratim is a Boxing and Soccer reporter for On SI. He has been in the industry for five years, having also worked for The Sporting News, Sportskeeda, EssentiallySports, and more. After coming from an engineering background, he started pursuing a career in sports media. Apratim also holds an MSc. Sport Marketing degree from Loughborough University London and is a keen practitioner of social media and digital marketing. In his spare time, Apratim likes to play an array of sports and practice calisthenics. He is also an avid enthusiast of improving his martial arts skills.