UNANIMOUS CHOICE: Pacquiao bound for Hall of Fame induction

The International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) in Canastota, New York, will be welcoming its fourth Filipino inductee in June next year.

Eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao is expected to be enshrined into the IBHOF as part of the Class of 2025.

The IBHOF will hold next year’s celebrations from 5 to 8 June.

Pacquiao, who fought from 1995 until 2021 and having captured world titles at flyweight, super-bantam, feather, super-feather, lightweight, super-lightweight, welter and super-welter, had logged a 62-8-2 record with 39 knockouts.

It’s a no-brainer that he will top the list of vote-getters when the ballots are counted, making him the third Filipino boxer and the fourth overall from the Philippines to be inducted.

The first was Flash Elorde in 1993, Pancho Villa in 1994 and promoter Lope Sarreal Sr. in 2005.

Elorde was world junior-lightweight champion from 1960 until 1967 while Villa was Asia’s first world champion, having been world flyweight king in the early 1920s.

Sarreal was Elorde’s promoter and eventually father-in-law.

The IBHOF is the most widely recognized award-giving body in the sport of boxing in the world.

Once he officially becomes a Hall of Famer, he will be joined there by three key figures in his legendary career.

They are his trainer Freddie Roach, promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank, and the most recent inductee, publicist Fred Sternburg.

Last time Pacquiao fought — in August 2021 — he was upset by last-minute replacement Yordenis Ugas of Cuba.

Still, that stunning loss didn’t hurt his legacy as one of the greatest of any era, whose name can be mentioned alongside the best of the best.

In a legendary career that kicked off in 1995, Pacquiao fought and beat a roster of stars many of whom have already been inducted into the IBHOF such as Oscar De La Hoya, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Ricky Hatton, Tim Bradley, Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera.

The Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) screens every year’s candidates.

During its inaugural induction in 1990, the IBHOF enshrined 20 fighters, including Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano and Sugar Ray Robinson.

The IBHOF will release the official lineup for induction of the Class of 2025 early next year after all the votes are cast.

Members of the BWAA are eligible to vote and Pacquiao should be an obvious and unanimous choice given his sterling credentials.

This impending enshrinement will occupy a special place in Pacquiao’s heart although through the years, the Filipino icon had won almost all the accolades available.