Manny Pacquiao has made other speeches this week but now his official acceptance speech has been forthcoming after getting the prestigious award.
Awards are usually garbage but when it comes to professional sport, the International Boxing Hall of Fame is the pinnacle.
They are vetted, audited without bias every year by independent panels which are transparent and the process management for the tallies is excellent, very hard to get into, you have to be dead or retired from boxing 5 years at least to be considered.
Pacquiao 2025 Hall Of Fame Acceptance Speech
Eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao dropped his speech a short time ago in New York after getting into the 2025 Hall of Fame:
“Thank you. First, I want to thank God for this opportunity, for granting us this day, good health, and safety. All praise to God, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you to the award organizers and everyone here today. I came from nothing—a small boy from the streets of General Santos City, with no shoes, no food, and no opportunities, only a dream in my heart. I know hunger, pain, and what it feels like to be counted out. But I also know what God can do when you hold fast to faith and never give up. Boxing gave me a way out. It turned my struggles into strength, my failures into lessons, and my pain into purpose. From flyweight to junior middleweight, across eight divisions, every fight and every victory was a step away from poverty—not just for me, but for my family, the Filipino people, and fans worldwide, all for the glory of God. I never chased greatness. I simply worked hard to be a better Manny Pacquiao than I was yesterday. I didn’t choose easy fights; I chose the hard ones. I moved up weight class after weight class, not to protect my record, but to test my limits. Looking back, I’m an eight-division world champion, with titles across four decades and the distinction of being the oldest welterweight champion in history. These aren’t just opinions—they’re facts. But greatness isn’t about what you call yourself. It’s about how you live your life and inspire others. Call me a fighter, a warrior, a proud Filipino, or a servant of God. Some ask who the greatest of all time is. That’s not for me to decide—it’s for the fans and history to determine. I want to thank the promoters who supported my career from the beginning to now. A special thank you to Bob Arum for giving a kid from the Philippines a chance to show the world what he could do. To Al Haymon, thank you for your support, especially in the later part of my career. I dedicate this moment to every underdog, every dreamer, and every person who keeps fighting despite the odds. To my wife, Jinkee, and our children—Jemuel, Michael, Princess, Queenie, and Israel—you are my heart and the reason I fight beyond the ring. To the Filipino people and fans worldwide, thank you for your love, prayers, and support through every victory and defeat. To the media and press, your contributions to the boxing industry and to all of us have been immense. You helped make us known. To my coaches, especially Freddie Roach, Buboy Fernandez, Justin Fortune, and the entire Team Pacquiao, and to every fan around the world—thank you. You encouraged and inspired me every step of the way.”
Well deserved and not a bad speech, Pacquiao had a few this week in fact.
Haymon once again making into the lists first before anyone from boxers after winning big fights, not surprised.
Pacquiao now returns to focus at 46 to get ready for July 19th’s WBC welterweight world title fight against Mario Barrios.