Why was boxing legend Manny Pacquiao barred from entering Paris 2024 Olympics?

Considered one of the greatest boxers in History, the Filipino star has ironically never graced the summer Games with his presence. Indeed, that seems to be something he was hoping to remedy, but sadly that won’t be the case.

IOC denies Manny Pacquiao exemption

According to reports, Manny Pacquiao, a former boxing world champion in eight weight classes, has been barred from competing at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Though he has in fact been retired since 2021, Pacquiao was hopeful of competing at 45 years old in the upcoming games in Paris. This brings us to the response of the International Olympic Committee, which sent a letter to the Philippines denying an exemption to the rule that sets the age limit for boxers at 40. For context, the limit was increased from 34 back in 2013. As per reports, the Filipino federation had requested a “universality” entry, an Olympic entry that is granted directly to countries on the basis of having insufficient athletes in the games.

“Universality places are not allocated to [teams] with an average of more than eight athletes in individual Sports/disciplines at the last two editions of the Olympic Games,” the IOC said in its statement. “This is the case for the Philippine Olympic Committee.” Understandably, the IOC’s decision brings a sharp end to what many Boxing fans had hoped would be a chance to see the former champion in action one more time. As for the man himself, it remains unclear what he will do from here, however, there are two upcoming qualification tournaments that he could, in theory, enter for a shot at the summer Games: One in Italy later this month and one in Thailand in May.

Manny Pacquiao is a legend

When he first made his professional debut in January 1995 at age 16 it was clear that boxing fans had been introduced to a future star. By 1998 - just three years later - he had already won his first world championship, taking the WBC flyweight title in December of that year by knocking out Chatchai Sasakul. From there he would go on to embark on a journey that would see him register a record of 62-2. Of those two defeats, one was a 2015 decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in what was one of the most televised and lucrative boxing matches in the history of the sport.

Impressive numbers aside, Pacquiao is undoubtedly one of the biggest stars that the ring has ever seen, having claimed belts at several levels: junior featherweight, featherweight, junior lightweight, lightweight, junior welterweight, welterweight, and junior middleweight. Following his retirement, Pacquiao went on to serve in the House of Representatives of the Philippines, a role he fulfilled between 2010 and 2016. Incidentally, it was due to his involvement in politics that he declined an invitation to compete at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.