If Tom Brady can thrive at 45, Manny Pacquiao believes he can, too.
Confirming a report published earlier on Saturday by ESPN, two boxing officials connected to the deal told BoxingScene that eight-division-champion Pacquiao is in “serious negotiations” to accept his first bout in three years by fighting for the WBC welterweight title against Mario Barrios.
The likely date will be in September at either the MGM Grand or the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Texas’ Barrios (29-2, 18 KOs) claimed the WBC interim title on May 4 by scoring a unanimous-decision victory over Fabian Maidana, knocking Maidana down in the third round.
Barrios, a former 140-pound WBA champion, is expected to be elevated to full WBC welterweight champion after the sanctioning body recently named unbeaten Terence Crawford the division’s champion in recess in preparation for his 154-pound title fight on August 3 in Los Angeles.
Barrios has struggled against his highest-profile opponents. He was stopped by Gervonta Davis in the 11th round in June 2021, when losing his belt, and then was defeated via unanimous decision by the former welterweight champion Keith Thurman eight months later.
Barrios regardless dominated Cuba’s Yordenis Ugas last year, knocking him down twice.
Pacquiao, in his most recent fight, in August 2021, was edged on the scorecards by Ugas via unanimous decision.
He told BoxingScene earlier this week that he was looking forward to finalizing what he called a “real fight” as he completed an agreement to stage an exhibition bout in Japan.
He was originally tempted by welterweight contender Conor Benn in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia earlier this year, but Benn remains sidelined by a ban for failing a drugs test.
Pacquiao and Premier Boxing Champions reconnected after doing the Ugas bout and others, and the promotion feels “without a doubt” that Pacquiao can appear as a sharp, experienced fighter capable of claiming a welterweight belt for a staggering fifth time.
Pacquiao’s advisor Sean Gibbons told BoxingScene he plans to visit the fighter in his native Philippines by June 17 “and [I] hope we can come to an agreement.”
Barrios, according to a PBC official, “is all in” to make the bout that would give PBC a strong lineup of cards on Amazon Prime Video, starting with the June 15 card headlined by Davis and light-heavyweight David Benavidez in the co-main, and stretching to the October card headlined by the junior-middleweight title fight between champion Sebastian Fundora and former welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr.
By Lance Pugmire