In more ways than one.
Yes, Pacquiao takes on Floyd Mayweather this September in a huge fight for the entire sport and a massive event worldwide for boxing.
He’s an eight-division world champion, should be a world champion at 47 after the Barrios draw, runs the IBA, promotes boxing in the US now on Amazon Prime Video and ESPN Fight Nights (no other promoter in America does that) and regularly helps Filipinos worldwide.
But that is just a start.
There is much more, and oh yeah, he is one of the few active Hall of Fame fighters still competing in professional boxing at the highest level (usually you have to be dead 5 years to be considered to get in).
At the weekend his son continued on the Pacquiao family fighting tradition with an outstanding win in his native Philippines.
Five knockdowns score in the fight on route to an early stoppage victory that had similarities to the father’s fight style, some brilliant explosive left hands and improving footwork — light on his feet he looked.
Just like father — a chip off the old block.
Pacquiao now has given professional boxing two sons as active boxers in the pro ranks.
His contributions to boxing just keep and going and going.
The Hall of Fame almost is not big enough for Manny Pacquiao both as a fighter and crucially a non-participant contributor as well.
People don’t talk enough about that.
Sure, he’s a great fighter and a living legend but what he has done away from boxing for the sport is immense, the likes of which only Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali in the last 50 years maybe have done.
He doesn’t get that credit enough.
What’s more, as boxing continues to expand furiously daily and aggressively into the East, the fight his son won in at the weekend was packed in the Filipinos with thousands of entertained and clearly content Filipinos there.
Watch the footage — amazing scenes in the Philippines.
Look, we love the Philippines but you know, even we were taken back by the event and card there at the weekend.
Really, the quality of the fight from Pacquiao’s son was excellent but the sell out crowd shows the continued expansion now of boxing as well right across Asia.
Very important too.
Not just the booming Japan and other places — the Philippines, India, China and much more are doing great things again in boxing as well.
We really have something on our hands here now in 2026 with boxing’s international daily and weekly expansion of audience and commercial holdings with companies and governments around the world only getting faster and faster as the days go by.
More and more fights getting made all the time.
More knockouts.
Great to see The Philippines a part of it.
