A chance meeting in Riyadh could end up pairing Manny Pacquiao and British banger Connor Benn for a super showdown this June in Saudi Arabia.
His Excellency, Turki Al-Sheikh, a Saudi adviser to the Royal Court, will be the one to decide if this matchup is going to take place or not.
Pacquiao and Benn created a stir when they ran into each other during Thursday’s official weigh-in of the Anthony Joshua versus Francis Ngannou heavyweight match.
Sean Gibbons, who was in attendance, was surprised by the commotion that took place.
“Manny was invited here by His Excellency, Turki Al-Sheikh and he went to the weigh-in and Connor Benn was there and all of a sudden, it was chaos,” Gibbons, who heads the Pacquiao-owned MP Promotions, said from the Saudi capital on Friday.
“It was like a feeding frenzy. Like the fight was happening and reporters sticking mikes in Manny’s face and they (even) did a faceoff. Like Connor Benn said, from idols to rivals. Manny Pacquiao has the itch to fight ever since his political campaign ended.”
Gibbons swears the Filipino eight-division legend, who is 45, is not backing away from a clash with the 27-year-old Benn.
“If the opportunity comes up and His Excellency wants the fight. Manny Pacquiao will be ready to go and His Excellency needs to be on board. If it was going to happen, it would be in June,” Gibbons added.
Pacquiao retired from the sport in late-2021 after losing to Yordenis Ugas of Cuba in Las Vegas and has a 62-8-2 record with 39 knockouts.
Lately, he has been working out regularly to show that he still has the moves and the motivation.
Benn, son of former world middleweight champion Nigel, packs a 23-0 card with 14 knockouts.
Reports have it that Pacquiao would like to see a deal in place by the time he heads back to Manila.
