Manny Pacquiao is set to return to the ring on July 19 to face WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao is officially making his return to the ring as an active professional fighter.
The eight-division world champion announced that he will be facing current WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios on July 19 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“On July 19, I return to the ring to face WBC Welterweight Champion Mario Barrios at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas,” Pacquiao said across his social media platforms on Wednesday.
Now 46 years old, Pacquiao will be coming out of four years of inactivity in professional boxing since last stepping into the ring in August 2021.
His most recent bout ended in a unanimous decision loss to Yordenis Ugas, a fight that many thought would mark the end of the Filipino icon’s professional boxing journey.
But Pacquiao (64-7-2, 40 KOs) has found one more challenge in Barrios (28-2-1, 18 KOs), a 30-year-old rising star who stands four inches taller and carries a reputation for toughness and aggression.
Barrios earned the vacant WBC interim title with a dominant performance over Ugas in 2023 and has since defended the belt twice. He defeated Fabian Maidana in May 2024, before settling for a draw with Abel Ramos later that year.
Pacquiao’s return adds another chapter to his already storied career, and it comes just weeks before he is set to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in June.
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