Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao hopes to unearth the next Chinese world champion and help grow the sport with an academy in the largely untapped country.
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The 38-year-old, who controversially lost his World Boxing Organisation (WBO) welterweight title to Australian Jeff Horn in July, was in Beijing this week.
He and Chinese sports-development firm Dancing Sports held a signing ceremony that included plans to build a Manny Pacquiao International Boxing Academy in the capital, the company said.
Pacquiao contemplates his defeat to Jeff Horn, of Australia, in a WBO World Welterweight title fight in Brisbane. Pacquiao has not fought since and plans for a rematch are on hold. Photo: AP
Zhou Wenxin, chairman of Dancing Sports, said their tie-up would deepen Chinese-Philippine relations in boxing and beyond.
The academy will draft in coaches from abroad to help develop Chinese boxing, which has never had a truly world-class fighter. There is no public timeline for when it will be built.
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China’s most famous boxer, Zou Shiming, lost his WBO flyweight belt when he was knocked out by Japan’s unfancied Sho Kimura in his first defence in July.
