Боксчин Шакур Стивенсон Мэнни Пакьяотой тулалдахын тулд жингийн хязгаарыг 144 фунт болгон бууруулахыг шаардах эсэх нь олны анхаарлыг татаж байна.
Өдгөө 47 настай Мэнни Пакьяо 2009 оноос хойш 147 фунтаас доош жинд тулалдаагүй бөгөөд 2025 оны долдугаар сард Марио Барриостой хийсэн тулаанд 146.8 фунт жинтэйгээр рингэнд гарсан юм. Стивенсон өмнө нь Девин Хэйнитэй тулалдахдаа 144 фунтыг санал болгож байсан ч Пакьяогийн хувьд ийм нөхцөл тавих нь шүүмжлэл дагуулах магадлалтай байна. Одоогоор хоёр талын хооронд тулааны жин болон санхүүгийн асуудлаар албан ёсны тохиролцоонд хүрээгүй байгаа аж.
Хэрэв Стивенсон 144 фунтын жинг шаардвал энэ нь хурд, рефлексээр илүү залуу боксчин ахмад тамирчныг өөрт тохиромжгүй жинд тулалдахыг албадсан хэрэг болно хэмээн шинжээчид үзэж байна. Теренс Кроуфорд жин өгсөж, илүү том биетэй өрсөлдөгчтэй тухайн жингийнх нь хязгаарт тулалдсан жишээ байгаа нь Стивенсоны хувьд хүндэтгэлтэй сонголт хийх дарамт болж болзошгүй юм.
Стивенсон өөрийн жин болох 140 фунтэд үлдэж, тухайн ангиллын шилдэг боксчидтой тулалдах боломжтой. Гэсэн хэдий ч Пакьяогийн нэр хүнд болон Netflix-ээр дамжуулан гарах тулааны асар их ашиг орлого нь түүнийг 147 фунтэд тулалдах сонирхлыг төрүүлж байна. Хэрэв тэрээр 147 фунтэд тулалдахаар зөвшөөрвөл өөрийн ур чадвараа батлах илүү хүчтэй аргумент болох юм.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
Shakur Stevenson wanted Devin Haney at 144 pounds. If he asks Manny Pacquiao for the same limit, he will have a much tougher time explaining it. Haney is a welterweight champion in his prime. Pacquiao is 47 and has not fought below 147 since 2009.
When Shakur and Haney discussed a fight earlier this year, Shakur described 144 as a fair meeting point. He holds a title at 140; Haney holds one at 147. Haney entertained the proposal, although their fight never came together. Shakur could make a reasonable case that neither champion should have to fight entirely on the other’s terms.
That argument changes with Pacquiao. Manny last fought at 140 when he knocked out Ricky Hatton in 2009. For his return against Mario Barrios in July 2025, he weighed 146.8 pounds and fought for Barrios’s welterweight title at the full 147-pound limit. Pacquiao took on a much younger champion at his weight. If Shakur wants his shot at Manny, why should Manny now have to come down for him?
That question has no answer yet. No weight has been announced, and there is no indication Pacquiao has agreed to 144 or demanded 147. BoxingScene reports that Pacquiao adviser Jas Mathur is still negotiating Manny’s financial package and that neither fighter has received a bout agreement. The money and the weight still need sorting out.
Pacquiao spent years commanding enormous paydays at the top of the sport. His name is a major reason this proposed fight would draw a worldwide Netflix audience, so his team has reason to negotiate hard over the purse. But nobody outside the talks knows his price or what he wants on weight. His Barrios weigh-in tells us what he did for that fight, not what he will accept for this one.
If Shakur does seek 144, the public reaction is easy to imagine. He would be the younger fighter with the quicker feet and sharper reflexes, asking an aging opponent to make a weight he has not made in seventeen years. Fans would see another precaution from a fighter whose style already gives opponents so little room to work.
The Terence Crawford comparison makes that choice harder to defend. Crawford, a fighter close to Shakur, moved up to face Israil Madrimov for a title at the full 154-pound limit. Madrimov made 154; Crawford weighed 153.4. Crawford accepted the larger man’s division and tried to beat him there. Shakur does not have to copy every decision Crawford made, but fans who place them in the same elite class will notice if he seeks a concession from Pacquiao.
Shakur has another choice: stay at 140 and pursue the best fighters in his own division. His title gives him a sporting reason to be there. A Pacquiao fight offers a much bigger audience and likely a bigger payday, which any fighter would find tempting. But moving toward welterweight for the attraction while asking a 47-year-old to meet him halfway would invite a fair question. Is Shakur chasing the challenge, or Pacquiao’s drawing power on the safest terms he can get?
Shakur is entitled to say that he competes at 140, not 147. He does not owe Pacquiao a welterweight fight. But Shakur also promotes himself as one of boxing’s best. If he wants the recognition that comes with sharing a ring with Manny, accepting 147 would give that claim more force. He would be taking the fight at the weight where Pacquiao recently showed he can compete, without asking the older man to make a concession first.
A catchweight could hurt Shakur even if he wins. Box cautiously to a decision at 144, and fans will say he kept his distance from an older man who had already come down in weight. Stop Pacquiao, and some will ask what the cut took out of him. Neither reaction would necessarily be fair to Shakur’s performance, but both are predictable. A clear victory could become an argument about the contract instead of the boxing.
That is the trap Shakur risks setting for himself. Pacquiao’s name would bring attention to the fight, but the weight would shape how people remember it. A win at 147 gives Shakur a stronger answer to anyone who says he needed help from the scale. If he insists on 144, he will have to explain why his youth and talent were not enough.
