Call it Manny Magic.
From the time Manny Pacquiao announced that he’s back at age 46 to pursue the WBC welterweight belt currently worn by Mario Barrios Jnr, he and advisor Sean Gibbons have gone on a remarkable tear, combining to capture or retain three titles within the past week.
Gibbons was especially beaming over the most recent conquest, when Mexico’s Eduardo “Sugar” Nunez, 28-1 (27 KOs), made his second consecutive daunting road trip and won the vacant IBF 130lbs title over Japan’s Masanori Rishiiki by unanimous decision scores of 117-111, 115-113, 116-112 Wednesday in Yokohama, Japan.
“A lot of these talented guys just float around Mexico,” said Knuckleheads Boxing’s Gibbons, who previously paired with Pacquiao to develop Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz into a 140lbs world titleholder.
“This guy [Nunez] was 23-1, going nowhere, and then I had the opportunity with my partners at BXSTRS, Juan Carlos Torres and Promociones del Pueblo [led by Oswaldo Kuchle] to start helping him, and Nunez signed with Matchroom, and a new star has been crowned in a coming-out party in Yokohama,” Gibbons told BoxingScene.
Nunez, 27, proved so intimidating by venturing to Tajikistan and defeating Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov in the 11th round last year that titleholder Anthony Cacace vacated his belt rather than honor his new mandatory challenger.
“This is the moment Eduardo Nunez has waited for his entire career. The last two years, we’ve been able to move him along quickly with the help of Matchroom, with us handling all the logistics,” Gibbons said. “This is what we do: sign guys and help them get to title fights. We can’t fight for them, but I really believe this is a special guy. He can box and he can punch and he has traveled – to Tajikistan to win the eliminator by wearing down Rakhimov. The Montiel family, led by champion Fernando Montiel, and his father and brothers, you don’t get better training and preparation. It’s been a team effort – a team of winners.”
The week started with Pacquiao-promoted Mexican Willibaldo Garcia capturing the IBF junior bantamweight title with a hard-fought split decision triumph over Rene Calixto Bibiano, whom he fought to a draw in Japan in December.
Hours later, another Pacquiao-Gibbons product, Pedro Taduran, of the Philippines, repeated victory over Japan’s Ginjiro Shigeoka to keep the IBF minimumweight belt and then announced that he is pursuing unified champion Oscar Collazo.
Referring to his position as “the mechanic,” Gibbons found the onslaught of success come upon as he spoke to BoxingScene from inside Wild Card Boxing Club, where Pacquiao was vocally and ferociously pounding his fists through one of his famed training sessions.
“If hitting pads wins fights, we already won. Unfortunately, there’s more to it,” Gibbons cracked. “The fight we always wanted was Barrios, and the style of Barrios is one that gives him his best opportunity among all the champions. Barrios comes to fight. He’s in your face. That’s what Manny likes.”
Pacquiao will be joined on his July 19 card in Las Vegas by Cruz and another of his fighters, Mark Magsayo, who will meet a yet-to-be-announced opponent on his way to a WBC 130lbs title eliminator later this year against Michael Magnesi.
As Pacquiao blasted his punches this week, Gibbons exhaled in delight, “It’s like a machine gun.”
Just like the rapid-fire victories the pair have posted this week.
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.