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Amir Khan spoke to Betway about Manny Pacquiao’s next fight.
Key points:
Pacquiao fought one of the ‘weaker’ champions against Mario Barrios.
He should retire and avoid humiliating himself.
If he continues to fight, Conor Benn in 2026 at Wembley Stadium is the fight to make.
I = InterviewerAK = Amir Khan
I: Manny Pacquiao may miss out on fighting Rolly Romero next, and he won’t fight Mario Barrios in a rematch, so what is next for him?
AK: It’s a hard call. He doesn’t want the Barrios rematch — that bout wasn’t great to watch. Styles make fights; Barrios is a great guy, a solid fighter. I like Barrios.
But in my opinion, he is one of the weaker world champions at welterweight that Manny could’ve taken a risk on and tried to win a title from. No disrespect is intended. Barrios is a great fighter, I used to spar with him and train with him back in the days with Virgil Hunter, but Manny Pacquaio is someone we don’t want to see get hurt.
If it were my money, I’d be cautious. I saw that when I was fighting, my reactions were slowing down, my reflexes were slipping. I was getting hit by shots I shouldn’t have been; I could see them, but the shots were still landing on me.
The hunger — sometimes it fades when you’ve got enough, and financially, I was strong, so I was thinking, why do I need to stay in boxing, be greedy, and continue fighting for the money?
This is why I think Manny is fighting. We are all prize fighters. If he really misses boxing, then fight for free; it is all about the money. Just look after your family and retire.
When money is driving you, you could end up getting hurt for no purpose. So, I think maybe call it a day, relax, enjoy life. Don’t take punch-for-punch battles and punishment from fighters he shouldn’t be taking it from unless they’re meaningful. It is sad to see.
I: But if he continues to fight, who should he face?
AK: I think a fight with Conor Benn would be interesting. If Conor goes into the rematch against Chris Eubank Jr and wins or loses, the fight would be a fantastic fight for him against Manny Pacquiao.
That’d be huge in the UK — people would be buzzing to see Pacquiao vs Benn. A lot of people in the UK want to see Manny fight there. He’s such a big name around the world, so we would love to see him fight here.
Conor Benn is building right now to become the next big thing in boxing, and hopefully he wins the fight against Eubank Jr in the rematch, and then it has to happen with Manny Pacquiao. If he doesn’t win, I still think it is a good fight for him to do. That fight could bring massive attention.
They are both powerful, strong, and I want to see it. Manny is older now, and he is not like his old self and won’t be as sharp or as hard as he once was. These young up-and-coming fighters should up their game a little bit more and take the risk, take the big names and try to win against the biggest names out there.
Roberto Villa is the CEO, Founder, Executive Writer, and Senior Editor of FightBook MMA. Has a passion for Combat Sports and is also a podcast host for Sitting Ringside. He’s also a former MMA fighter and Kickboxer. He’s also the main photographer for the 4CornersMafia Car Club.
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