Manny Pacquiao, an eight-division boxing world champion and one of the Philippines’ most recognizable stars, is exploring ways to qualify for the 2024 Olympics, Sean Gibbons, the president of MP Promotions, tells Sports Illustrated.
The 2024 Summer Olympics will begin July 26 in Paris.
Professional boxers have been allowed to compete in the Olympics since 2016. Pacquiao, 44, last fought in a sanctioned match in ’21, when he lost a welterweight title fight to Yordenis Ugás. In ’22, Pacquiao defeated YouTuber DK Yoo in an exhibition fight in South Korea.
Pacquiao, who compiled a 62-8-2 record in the pro ranks, has never competed in a high-level international amateur tournament. In 1995, Pacquiao, still a teenager, turned professional as a means to provide for his family. In 2001, he partnered with Freddie Roach, a Hall of Fame trainer who molded Pacquiao into one of the best fighters of this century.
Still, Pacquiao’s desire to represent his country in the Olympics lingers.
“One hundred percent, under the right circumstances Manny would love to [compete],” Gibbons wrote in a text message. “[It has] always been a dream of his to represent the Philippines in the Olympics. He never had a chance because at 16 his family was dead broke, and he needed to go professional to help everyone.”
Abraham Tolentino, the president of the Philippines Olympic Committee, told Filipino outlets Pacquiao would be welcomed onto the national team. Pacquiao is a wildly popular figure in the Philippines. In 2008 the Philippines army declared a seven-hour truce with insurgents so that both sides could watch Pacquiao’s super featherweight title fight against Juan Manuel Márquez. Pacquiao served in the Philippines senate from ’16 to ’22 and finished third in the most recent presidential election.
Tolentino said the committee is investigating ways for Pacquiao to qualify as one of the 124 male boxers eligible. Pacquiao could compete in an Olympic qualifying tournament in the first quarter of 2024. The Philippines could also attempt to qualify Pacquiao as a Universality Place competitor. Nine Universality Places will be awarded for the ’24 Games, per Olympics.com, with five going to women and four to men.
