Despite there being more than a good deal of concern and worry from people regarding Manny Pacquiao’s upcoming return to the ring, this at age 46, there has come from Team-Pacquiao some quite alarming talk of a second fight being sought for after Manny’s July 19 challenge of reigning WBC welterweight champ Mario Barrios.
Sean Gibbons, Pac-Man’s right-hand man, has been quoted by Sports Illustrated as saying the plan is for Pacquiao to fight and of course defeat Barrios, before then fighting – get this – Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
“When he beats Mario Barrios, line them up,” Gibbons said of Pacquiao. “His dream fight is Gervonta Davis. He loves that fight. He tried to get that fight for a couple of years. Gervonta kept talking about how he didn’t want to fight him at 145. Then he goes and gets smoked by Lamont Roach. So Manny Pacquiao can get this [WBC 147 pound] belt, and it’s going to be a wonderful ride.”
Gibbons says ‘line them up’—but should anyone let that happen?
So, is Gibbons 100 percent serious here? If Pacquiao can roll back the years and defeat Barrios – and it’s a big if in the opinion of many people, people who fear Manny could get badly hurt in the fight with the 30 year old – could he really fight again? And against Tank? Some people may well cringe at the idea of Pacquiao, who will turn 47 in December, getting in the ring with the hard-hitting Davis. Yes, Tank struggled with Roach, but he wasn’t “smoked.” And any fighter can have an off-night, and maybe Davis underestimated Roach when going into the fight (we will see in the August rematch between the two).
Is this gutsy or reckless? Because it sure sounds insane
Davis, 30-0-1(28) is far too young, strong, and powerful for Pacquiao. Heck, Barrios is all these things as well. Again, it isn’t a pleasant thing to think about what could happen if Pacquiao really did fight Tank. Surely it will not happen. It cannot be allowed to happen. But as we know these days, almost nothing can be ruled out in the sport of boxing.
