Sugar Ray Leonard believes Manny Pacquiao must focus on his mentality to win a world title on his boxing return.
The legendary boxer had multiple breaks from the sport over his 20-year career at world level, and says ‘Pac Man’ could defeat Mario Barrios if he has ‘that feeling’.
4
Pacquiao faces WBC welterweight champion Barrios on July 19, almost four years since his last professional bout, which was a defeat to Yordenis Ugas.
He was convincingly beaten by Ugas on that night in August 2021, subsequently dropping his WBA welterweight title as he struggled to get on the inside of his opponent’s ferocious jab.
Many big boxing personalities, including talkSPORT’s Spencer Oliver, believe Pacquiao’s return is a ‘disgrace.’
But Leonard took a different approach when giving his honest assessment on the fight.
“You know there’s no one answer to that question,” the former five-weight world champion told Fight Hub TV, speaking on the most important thing for Pacquiao to focus on upon his return.
“When I came back, I didn’t realise it was five years since I’d been out of the ring.
“You got to get used to being hit, you got to get used to training that hard at that level, it’s a lot of things, it’s more mental, more psychological that it is physical.
“You have to have that heart, have that feeling, and you know what? Do I question it? No. Maybe he can do it, maybe he knows the right thing to do. It’s just the way you feel.”
Leonard ended his retirement four times during his iconic career.
His last-ever fight came against three-division world champion Hector Camacho in New Jersey in March 1997.
4
4
The 40-year-old at the time had not fought since losing the WBC super-welterweight title to Terry Norris in February 1991 in what was his penultimate bout.
Camacho dropped Leonard in the fifth round as the latter struggled with mobility due to an ongoing calf injury.
The Puerto Rican followed up with an array of shots to no response and the referee was forced to stop the bout, awarding the victory to Camacho via technical knockout.
talkSPORT Boxing’s former world champion pundit Oliver believes something similar could happen to Pacquiao.
“Pacquiao looked a shell of his former self in his last fight against Ugas,” he said.
“He has had a long career and turned pro in 1995, he’s a great, but he’s coming back now.
4
“The biggest disgrace of this is that the WBC are sanctioning the fight for a world title, which is just wrong. I think it’s a young man’s sport.
“The inactivity and way he performed in his last fight. I don’t like it. Let’s just leave it there.
“The governing bodies should only sanction fights if they are in the top fifteen.
“Pacquiao’s been retired for four years, so how does that warrant him jumping the queue and fighting Barrios?
“It’s wrong in so many ways. The system is broken with the WBC allowing that to happen.”
The WBC handed Pacquiao the No. 5 spot in the 147 lbs division, even though he hasn’t fought since 2021.
This follows WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman’s decision to give the Filipino legend the go ahead to box 29-year-old WBC champion Barrios in July.
