MANILA – Filipino boxing icon and many-time world champion Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao is eyeing another achievement in boxing – to punch a ticket and win a medal in the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said on Wednesday that Pacquiao’s camp, indeed, reached out on how the former eighth-division world champion could qualify for the 2024 Olympics in France.

Tolentino said that the POC has started conferring with the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which is supervising Olympic boxing while the International Boxing Association is suspended.

“Senator Pacquiao’s camp reached out saying our Filipino ring idol wants to fight in Paris,” Tolentino revealed. “But the Senator can no longer vie for qualification in the Asian Games in Hangzhou next month.”

The Asian Games—an Olympic qualifier—has an age limit for athletes at 40 years old in all sports. Pacquiao, who is also a former senator in the country, is now 44.

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However, Tolentino admitted that the boxing champion could still book a seat for the Paris Games through two Olympic qualifying tournaments set in the first and second quarters of 2024.

He can also be given a berth under the Universality rule, which the IOC would grant. There are, however, only nine places under Universality at the Paris Games—five for women and only four for men.

Tolentino also said that the ABAP, through its chairman Ricky Vargas, will welcome Pacquiao to the national team and will assist in his qualification.

Pacquiao currently weighs 66 kgs and has to choose between 63.50 kgs or 71 kgs that are on the Paris boxing program.

Professional boxers have been allowed to compete at the Olympics. In fact, in the Tokyo Olympics, 43 of the 186 competitors were professionals, including middleweight bronze medalist Eumir Felix Marcial, who beat fellow professional, Armenia’s Arman Darchinyan, in the quarterfinals.

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Prior to Tokyo, Marcial booked his first professional victory via unanimous decision over American Andrew Whitfield on December 16, 2020, in Los Angeles.

Marcial opted to delay his fifth professional fight in September and will focus on his return to the Olympics through Hangzhou where he’ll be fighting in the light heavyweight category.

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