RETIREMENT. FOR SOME, the prospect of a well-deserved rest after a long, successful career sounds like the ultimate accomplishment. But for the world’s most elite athletes, stepping away from their sport can be a dreaded prospect (see the cases of team sport GOATs Tom Brady and LeBron James, icons with 20-plus years under their belts). So much so that they can’t quite do it—or, if they manage to call it quits, they return to their sport again. And again.
The world’s only eight-division boxing champion, Manny Pacquiao, is the most recent example. He initially announced his retirement from boxing in September 2021 at 42. He didn’t just rest on his laurels outside of boxing; Pacquiao was an elected member of the Filipino Senate from 2016 to 2022, then unsuccessfully ran for President of the country in 2022 and sought another Senate term earlier this year. But now, after nearly four years away from competition at 46 years old, he’s back in the ring. Pacquiao will return to the sport to face current WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios on July 19 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas for a title shot that will be broadcast on Amazon Prime pay-per-view.
Pacquiao, who is known for rapid footwork, fast hands and creative punching angles, boasts a 62-8-2 all-time career record. The Boxing Writers Association named him the boxer of the decade in 2010 and he was recently inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Six years ago at age 40, Pacquiao defeated then-30-year-old Keith Thurman to win the WBA welterweight belt and set the record for oldest welterweight champion.
This matchup is no empty exhibition to give one of the sport’s legends one last time in the ring. Barrios is 30 years old and sports a 29-2-1 record, with 18 knockouts. If Pacquiao wins, he will break his own record as the oldest welterweight champion of all time. And perhaps he’ll announce his retirement… again?
Men’s Health caught up with Pacquiao ahead of the fight about his training, how he’s prepared for (another) young opponent, and what inspired him to return to the ring.
MEN’S HEALTH: You announced your retirement almost four years ago. How did you decide to unretire and box again?
MANNY PACQUIAO: I really missed boxing for a couple years. I regret that I announced my retirement in 2021, but it was like, it’s time for my body to rest. I’d been in boxing for how many decades, so I had to let my body rest for a couple years. Now, I’m back. I’m excited again. The fire is still there in my heart, and I’m so excited for another milestone in my career to set a record, another record, of being a world welterweight champion.
MH: You said that you knew your body needed a rest. But were you training as though you were still boxing in case you wanted to return?
MP: [I was] training like a boxer, like what I did before. I’m passionate about the hard work. Not only heavy, heavy training, but more beyond that. When I train, you cannot say heavy training. It’s like more beyond that, beyond heavy training.
MH: So once you decided you wanted to come back, what has that training looked like?
MP: Every day, we’re jogging in the morning. And then training at the gym for three hours. Doing everything: Sparring, punching the mitts, heavy bags, punching bags, speed bag, skipping rope, shadow boxing, everything like that. There’s a lot of things.
MH: How far are you jogging? Indoors or outdoors?
MP: We run for an hour. Anywhere from five to 10 miles. We climb the mountain [at Griffith Park in Los Angeles]. The elevation is 1,820 feet. Seven days a week, running. Sometimes I let my body rest; if my body doesn’t respond, I let my body rest the next day to recover.
MH: From a rest and recovery perspective, what does that look like?
MP: Just rest. Drink a lot of water. Our body is 70 percent water, so we need to put water in it.
MH: How much water is “a lot?”
MP: It varies how much I drink, depending on how heavy the training is. Sometimes four to seven liters of water a day. During heavy training, I’m also drinking LOCK’DIN electrolytes when needed.
MH: How does training feel different in your 40s than it did in your 30s and 20s?
MP: The fire is still there. It’s just the response of the body, the recovery, that’s the adjustment. My mind is really active, saying, “push, push, push”–but sometimes my body is like, “let me rest and recover first.” So it’s a balance. It’s hard to push like that because then you can overtrain. I also stretch. Before I start my workout, I stretch from head to foot for 20 to 30 minutes. A complete stretch routine.
MH: What does nutrition look like for you?
MP: When I’m training, lots of protein. Meat, chicken, or beef. I don’t like sweets, even without training. Well, sometimes I do. Chocolate is bad.
MH: There’s been a lot of discussion about the size difference between you and Mario Barrios, your opponent. He is 16 years younger, seven inches taller, and his reach is 71 inches, while yours is 67. Is there any aspect of your training that focuses on that size differential?
MP: Yeah, he’s taller than me, but I used to fight [people] taller than me so it’s no problem. You can use what you need. The footwork [is important].
MH: Is there anything you have learned in your political life that you feel has carried over into your boxing career?
MP: Definitely. In the boxing world, people are real. They are true to you. In politics, they are hiding in different places. In politics, you don’t know who your opponent is. It might be your friend–sometimes your friend is hugging you while stabbing you in the back [laughs]