Manny Pacquiao has received backing from boxing royalty ahead of his July 19th clash with Mario Barrios.
The Filipino great is attempting to become boxing’s oldest fighter to win a world championship if he can beat the WBC world welterweight champion.
Already, boxing’s finest have come out to support ‘PacMan’, including Jeff Mayweather, who believes Manny wins convincingly.
Pacquiao, though, still has it all to do against a younger fighter in Barrios, but faith in his ability to turn back the clock is shared among fighters.
Bernard Hopkins believes Pacquiao beats ‘B-plus’ Barrios over the distance
Bernard Hopkins, the multi-weight world champion and the record holder for the oldest champion in boxing, is on the side of the 46-year-old.
In an interview with Ring Magazine, he said: “I’m rooting for Manny because I know if anyone can do it, it’s him.
“I think Barrios is a B-plus. I believe, yes, (Pacquiao’s) got some mileage on him, yes, he’s politically mentally tied in, but he has the speed, he has the experience to get the upset.
“As a matter of fact, Manny could beat him by decision. He won’t get the stoppage.”
B-Hop held the record for winning a world title at 46, beating the record set by the legendary George Foreman in 1994.
Pacquiao could break his own welterweight title record by six years
Impressively, this would not be the first time ‘Pac’ has beaten a record concerning title-winning age.
Becoming welterweight champion on Saturday night would make him the oldest in the division’s history.
In 2019, he set the record when he beat Keith Thurman for the WBA title on a split decision.
However, this time the age gap between him and his Mexican-American opponent is 16 years.
When asked about it in an interview, he laughed: “Don’t worry about it.”
While there is a belief among those in the business that it is difficult to see how he’d fare against a younger and sharper fighter.
His last fight was a disappointing unanimous decision loss to Yordenis Ugas in 2021, where he looked out of step with the Cuban’s timing.
But after four years, he may have been able to get back to sharpness, and now the world awaits to see if the multi-division icon can pull off the unthinkable.