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Manny Pacquiao concedes after 18th-place finish in Philippine Senatorial election; ring return imminent

Manny Pacquiao will not enter the International Boxing Hall of Fame as a sitting Senator.

The former eight-division champion was unsuccessful in his bid for a second run as a Senator, conceding the race Wednesday night. The 2025 Philippine Election ended with Pacquiao well outside the top 12 slots to fill the available seats. He placed 18th overall, with 10,208,499 votes as a representative of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP, Federal Party of the Philippines).

As was always the case during his legendary boxing career and even in his previous defeat in politics, Pacquiao went out as ever the humble warrior.

“From my heart, thank you very much,” he stated via social media. “Even though I was unsuccessful in running for the Senate, I am deeply grateful for every vote, prayer, and support.

“To all who voted and believed, thank you for your love. To all who did not choose me, thank you anyway because you are also part of the process that strengthens our democracy. The fight continues. The service continues. For God. For the nation. For every Filipino.”

The election results marked Pacquiao’s second straight defeat in politics. The wildly popular figure from General Santos City previously ran for president but finished a distant third during the 2022 Philippine Election.

That result came nine months after an August 2021 decision defeat to Yordenis Ugas in a failed bid to regain his WBA welterweight title.

The Ugas loss was believed to be the final fight of his now Hall of Fame-elected career. Pacquiao (62-8-2, 39 KOs) announced his retirement one month after, and one week into his presidential campaign.

This time around, Pacquiao has a boxing future to look forward to — for better or worse — following his latest political defeat.

One month after he will have accepted enshrinement into the Hall of Fame in June, Pacquiao will end a nearly four-year ring hiatus. As previously reported, the 46-year-old southpaw is due to challenge WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios (29-2-1, 18 KOs).

While not yet official, their bout is slated to headline a July 19 Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on Prime Video pay-per-view event from a Las Vegas venue to be determined.

Neither PBC nor Pacquaio have publicly confirmed his return. However, the boxer is expected to formally announce the news at a press conference tentatively scheduled for next week in Los Angeles.

The fight will come just shy of four years to his above-mentioned loss to Ugas at Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena. TGB Promotions has a hold for that venue on July 19, though it is already committed to host the tail of a three-date stop for the "Lady Gaga: The Mayhem Ball" concert tour.

Philippine senatorial candidate Manny Pacquiao attends the campaign rally of senatorial candidates under the party of the Philippines' president Ferdinand Marcos Jr in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, on May 9, 2025, ahead of the midterm elections. The Philippines votes on May 12 in a ballot that will decide half the Senate's seats, thousands of local posts, and quite possibly the political future of impeached Vice President Sara Duterte. But it is the vice president's feud with President Ferdinand Marcos that has dominated national politics heading into the mid-term election. (Photo by Jam STA ROSA / AFP) (Photo by JAM STA ROSA/AFP via Getty Images)

Pacquiao hoped to have returned to the Philippine senate and to the ring all in the same year as he deservedly enters the Hall of Fame. Instead, his return to boxing will come with the memories of what he was able to achieve in politics with little formal training in that world.

Pacquiao won a congressional seat in 2010, representing the province of Sarangani while at the peak of his boxing popularity. He’d already collected lineal championships and major titles in seven weight divisions by that point, and went on to win an eighth later that year.

His second congressional term came by default. Pacquiao ran unopposed during the 2013 election and ended his term when he moved into one of the 12 open Senate seats in 2016 with a seventh-place finish.

The achievement came one month after a win over Timothy Bradley in their April 2016 rubber match. Pacquiao announced his exit from the sport immediately after his second win over Bradley to focus on his election campaign.

His first retirement was short-lived — standard fare for this industry — as he returned later that November, where he dethroned Jessie Vargas to begin his third WBO welterweight title reign.

Pacquiao later went on to claim the WBA welterweight title in a July 2019 split decision victory over then-unbeaten Keith Thurman. The win saw Pacquiao become the oldest welterweight titlist in boxing history, at 40 years and 215 days old, one of six Guinness Book of World Records he holds in the sport.

A win over Barrios will see Pacquiao break his own record for welterweight, and will become the second-oldest boxer to win a title at any weight. Bernard Hopkins holds the latter mark, when he defeated then-IBF light heavyweight titlist Tavoris Cloud at age 48 in 2013. Hopkins also further unified the 175-pound titles at age 49 when he dethroned WBA titleholder Beibut Shumenov in 2014.

Pacquiao will likely enter the ring as the underdog against Barrios, who is more than 17 years the Filipino’s junior.

Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson at AT&T Stadium on November 15, 2024 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for Netflix © 2024)

Then again, a scrawny 16-year-old Pacquiao was never meant to amount to much in the ring.

He persevered and won his first title — the lineal and WBC flyweight championship — in 1998, just two-and-a-half years and 21 fights into his pro career, and barely a year after he suffered a knockout loss.

But it wasn’t until his June 2001 upset knockout win over Lehlo Ledwaba that Pacquaio’s career caught fire. The opportunity came on short notice, when Pacquiao replaced an injured Enrique Sanchez. The fight took place at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, his first in the U.S., and he could not have made a bigger splash.

From there came title wins at featherweight, super featherweight, lightweight, super lightweight, welterweight and super welterweight. Five lineal championships in total were claimed, which remains an all-time record.

Despite the night ending in defeat, his May 2015 clash with Floyd Mayweather remains far and away the most lucrative boxing event in history. The sport’s top two stars generated more than $410,000,000 in revenue from 4.6 million pay-per-view units sold, in addition to a live gate of $72,198,500 from a sold-out MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Pacquiao’s in-ring achievements and massive popularity contributed entirely to the political success he’s enjoyed. While he’s now prepared to attempt one more boxing comeback, he still wears his heart on his sleeve when it comes to the adoring public — and even his political rivals.

“My sincere congratulations also go to all the winners,” Pacquiao stated Wednesday night. “May your service to our nation be honest, humane, and meaningful.

“My heart will remain in the country. And my dream for the country to uplift every Filipino family will not change.”

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