Andreas HaleMay 8, 2025, 06:07 PM ET
CloseAndreas Hale is a combat sports reporter at ESPN. Andreas covers MMA, boxing and pro wrestling. In Andreas’ free time, he plays video games, obsesses over music and is a White Sox and 49ers fan. He is also a host for Sirius XM’s Fight Nation. Before joining ESPN, Andreas was a senior writer at DAZN and Sporting News. He started his career as a music journalist for outlets including HipHopDX, The Grammys and Jay-Z’s Life+Times. He is also an NAACP Image Award-nominated filmmaker as a producer for the animated short film “Bridges” in 2024.Open Extended Reactions
Boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao will end his nearly four-year retirement to face Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight championship on July 19 in Las Vegas, sources confirmed to ESPN on Thursday.
The fight will be available via PBC on Prime Video pay-per-view.
Pacquiao, 46, last fought in August 2021 when he lost a unanimous decision against Yordenis Ugas for the WBA welterweight championship. After the loss, Pacquiao announced his retirement on social media to focus primarily on his political career. But boxing’s first and only eight-division world champion has kept an eye on the sport that made him a household name.
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