Manny Pacquiao’s Olympic dream is dead. His application to join the Philippines team has been rejected meaning that the boxer turned senator will never get to compete at the most prestigious competition in the sporting world.
Officials in the Philippines has made a special request to the International Olympic Committee to allow Pacquiao to compete despite being well over the age limit, and not meeting any of the other criteria. That was rejected meaning there is no viable path for the multiple time boxing world champion to make it to Paris.
Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino told AFP he was disappointed by the ruling,
“What a waste. It could have been a sure podium or first ever gold for the country.”
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Fallen through
Pacquiao’s well publicized exhibition bout with Buakaw Banchamek appears to have fallen through. It had been scheduled to take place on April 20th at Impact Arena in Bangkok.
Organizers were forced to admit that the show had been cancelled after fighters on the undercard announced their bouts were no longer happening. They are still adamant that it will take place at a later date but for the time being it looks like that fight is off.
It potentially leaves Pacquiao at a loose end. He is no longer a senator in the Philippines, his term ended in 2022, and came well short in his bid to become president.
Noboyuki Sakakibara declared that Pacquiao would be fighting Floyd Mayweather on a Rizin card this year. Fans will be waiting to see whether that bout pushes through or falls by the wayside as so many of the boxer’s recent fight announcements seem to do.
