It didn\u2019t take Manny Pacquiao long to break down how a fantasy fight between himself and Errol Spence Jr. would have gone down had they boxed in 2021 like they were rumored to.<\/p>\n
It was a time in which Spence was already established not only as a unified welterweight boxing<\/a> champion, but as a ticket-seller in Texas, and a transcendant fighter who had built relationships with Dallas Cowboys players and musical artists, too. <\/p>\n He was 27-0 (21 KOs). He had a lot of what it would take to become an even bigger star in the American market. And so Pacquiao was an ideal opponent to breakout against as a bigger box office attraction, just like how Pacquiao took on, and beat, Oscar de la Hoya, before he own pay-per-view run.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to fight him because I know I can easily beat him,\u201d Pacquiao said during an episode of the \u2018Inside The Ring\u2019 show on DAZN.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pacquiao, at that time, was still a 71-fight veteran. He\u2019d seen it all, done it all, and had won it all.<\/p>\n But he insists he\u2019d not have been the de la Hoya in this match-up.<\/p>\n And, to have beaten him, the secret would have been \u201cwith speed.\u201d<\/p>\n He said: \u201cIt\u2019s not about strength, or how strong the punch is. It\u2019s about skills and abilities in the ring and how you move. That\u2019s boxing. That\u2019s the secret to being an eight-division champion.\u201d<\/p>\n Pacquiao went on to box Yordenis Ugas but lost so badly he was seen on video days later, unable to open his eyes from the bruising, getting spoon-fed by his wife, Jinkee Pacquiao. He returned to the ring in 2025 after almost four years away and ripped up the script to almost beat Mario Barrios in a somewhat unfair majority draw.<\/p>\n Spence, meanwhile, defeated Ugas by 10th-round finish before a stunning ninth-round knockout loss to career rival Terence Crawford in 2023. He\u2019s not fought since but has been linked with a summer showdown against Tim Tszyu.<\/p>\n The last we heard was that Spence was \u201cstill thinking\u201d about his comeback<\/a>, but would only compete for the right fight.<\/p>\n