Manny Pacquiao, “excited” about the 2024 Olympics

Manny Pacquiao (62-8-2, 39 KO) wants to close his boxing career by putting one last finishing touch to it - with an Olympic gold medal. The Filipino confirmed his intention to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and try to win one of the few titles that he does not have in his honors list.

The president of the Philippine Olympic Committee, Abraham Tolentino, announced the former champion’s intentions and he confirmed them in an interview with Rappler. “Senator Pacquiao’s camp reached out saying our Filipino ring idol wants to fight in Paris,” Tolentino announced.

“My heart and desire is to claim a gold medal in the Olympic Games. I’m waiting for that and I’m excited,” declared the former world champion during the presentation of the Maharlika Pilipinas Volleyball League (MPVA). Pacquiao revealed that, when he was young, his country’s national team rejected him, so he was never able to fight for the medal. “From the beginning, I went to Manila to be part of the Philippine team, but they didn’t pick me. They rejected me because they said I was not good enough,” Pacman said.

After being rejected by the team, Pacquiao debuted as a professional boxer in 1995, when he was just 16 years old. He accumulated victories and was proclaimed world champion in six different weight divisions (flyweight, bantamweight, super featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, super welterweight). Add two more in titles not recognized worldwide. The first, at featherweight in 2023, where he knocked out Marco Antonio Barrera (67-7-0, 44 KO) for a belt recognized by The Ring, and the second, also by KO against Ricky Hatton (45-3-0, 32 KO) in 2009, with the International Boxing Organization (IBO). He hung up his gloves in September 2021, after losing a unanimous decision to Yordenis Ugas (27-5-0, 12 KO) in Las Vegas. But the Filipino does not want that to be the end of his career, and wants to finish it with an Olympic gold medal.