Malignaggi: Pacquiao ducks me, fights anyone else

Paulie Malignaggi says Manny Pacquiao is avoiding him at all costs.

The former two-division world champion made the claim on The Ariel Helwani Show.

"I will tell you this, this guy Pacquiao comes back and he is looking to fight anybody but me right now," Malignaggi said.

"This guy is 100 years old and he is looking to fight anybody but me."

Pacquiao, 47, has not fought since July 2025.

That night he secured a draw with WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios.

Before that, he had been out of the ring since August 2021, when he lost a WBA welterweight contest to Yordenis Ugás.

Pacquiao is a veteran of 73 professional fights with eight losses on his record.

He is an eight-weight world champion — a living legend of the sport.

But Malignaggi believes the Filipino icon is dodging him deliberately.

"He doesn't even mention my name because he knows what I said about him and he knows that I am right," Malignaggi said.

"They don't want that spewed out in that promotion, so they don't bring it up."

Malignaggi is 44 years old and still active.

He is set to fight former WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz in a bare-knuckle bout on Saturday, December 5, 2026.

Pacquiao had been linked to several opponents throughout 2026.

He was touted for the undercard of Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua in Cardiff next month.

Retired rivals such as Amir Khan and Danny Garcia were among the suggested names.

Then active fighters began to be rumored as his potential dance partner.

Two-time IBF super-featherweight world champion Joe Cordina was deemed the front runner.

But that fight has now been confirmed as not happening.

It is now most likely that Pacquiao, if he does return, will do so in 2027.

He turns 48 in mid-December 2026.

Meanwhile, Conor Benn revealed to Sky Sports that he was offered a December fight with Pacquiao.

Benn could not be ready for that date.

He suffered a stoppage loss to Ryan Garcia in Las Vegas in September 2026.

But Benn hopes talks can be restarted for a fight in the first quarter of 2027.

"He's an all-time legend," Benn told Sky Sports.

"He's an eight-division world champion, he's an all-time, he'll go down in the history books."

"Another stadium show sounds nice."

"I know the Pacquiao fight was offered to me for December," Benn revealed.

"And I wasn't ready to get the fight done in December."

"But if he wants it Q1 next year, we can do Pacquiao."