The exhibition boxing match between Manny Pacquiao and Buakaw Banchamek now has a date. The two will face off on April 20th although we don’t know what the venue will be.
Writing in Thai on Facebook just now Buakaw posted that:
“It is coming. April 20th, 2024.”
Boxing debut
The fight was announced earlier this year but without a venue or date. Pacquiao has seen several exhibition boxing matches fall through so this announcement was greeted with cynicism in some quarters.
The two camps appear to have agreed on a date for what will be Buakaw’s boxing debut. Pacquiao remains one of the biggest names in the sport despite having officially announced his retirement.
What the two men do have in common is a weight class. Pacquiao finished his career competing between 147 and 154lbs which is the division Buakaw has been competing in ever since becoming a breakout K-1 star at the start of the century.
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Money match
A fight between Buakaw and Pacquiao would generate enormous interest in Thailand. The Thai isn’t such a big name globally and there are clearly bigger matchups out there for the Filipino.
Last weekend Conor McGregor made it clear he wanted to fight Pacquiao. During a garbled conversation with Cristiano Ronaldo at the heavyweight boxing show in Saudi Arabia he seemed to suggest the weight class was an issue.
McGregor has fought at 170lbs and appears to have bulked up significantly since his last fight. His professional boxing record might stand at 0-1 but he would be much bigger than Pacquiao.
That would be the money fight for the Filipino and would definitely generate pay per view revenue. It isn’t clear who will be bankrolling the fight with Buakaw but the Thai says it is happening on April 20th.
