World-boxing champion turned Philippine Senator Manny Pacquiao has had many fights in his entire career, yet his biggest fight in 2022 may be for the Philippine Presidency.
The Filipino pride, who is currently 42-years-old has been a senator in his home country since 2016.
During this time, he has defended the WBO welterweight title against Jesse Vargas, lost it to Jeff Horn in a defeat that, the people thought, would signal game over for PacMan, only to win the WBA version and see off challenges from elite names like Keith Thurman and Adrian Broner, all while serving his countrymen.
But, just like what boxing sage, Rocky Balboa once shared, 'Time takes out everybody. It is undefeated.'
In the last six months, former promoter Bob Arum and Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach have revealed that he told them he has only a couple of fights left in his estimate before stepping out of the ring and on to the campaign trail, Give Me Sport reported.
So, questions flooded right away, who should he fight? Or rather, who will he fight?
Manny 'PacMan' Pacquaio, the only eight-weight world champion in boxing history and picked up his first global title way back in December 1998 down at flyweight, that is 112lb.
His name itself, record, and successes recently have made him a sought-after opponent by the two kings up at 147lb, Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford.
At first glance, they should be fighting each other. However, when their risk-versus-reward calculations booth concluded, the fighting Senator from the Philippines came out as a better option.
Despite this, 'Pacman' did not account for the said computation, so is the reason why he is expected to close a deal to go against Conor McGregor in yet another crossover face-off between boxing and UFC.
Read also: US Supreme Court overturns Conviction on Former NFL Player's Killer
McGregor, on the other hand, is set to return to the Octagon on the 23rd of January against Dustin Poirier. Reports say that if he comes out of the fight with a win but still cannot push Khabib Nurmagomedov out of retirement, the possibility of his $250m worth battle with Pacquiao will shorten.
Also, Pacquiao has signed with McGregor's long time representatives, Audie Attar's Paradigm SM, which would make it easier for the fight to happen.
In a report by the Philippine Star, Pacquiao's special assistant Jake Joson stated that Pacquiao is already watching McGregor closely in hopes that their match up will soon happen.
He also added that 'Pacman' even subscribed to a pay-per-view of McGregor's upcoming fight with Poirier to see the result of the match and survey his possible opponent.
Moreover, the business manager of Pacquiao's camp, Arnold Vegafria said that the details for the Pacquiao-McGregor fight will be finalized after January 23.
On the other side of the ring, McGregor and his camp has stated that they believe that a match between him and Pacquiao this year is inevitable, Daily Mail reported via MSN.
MacGregor has also stated that he has already started his preparations for his match-up with Pacquiao.
Related article: Boxing Legend Manny Pacquiao Refuses to Retract P500K Bounty on Suspects in Death of Flight Attendant
