The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) has already made a formal request to allow Filipino boxing star Manny Pacquiao to compete as an amateur in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
POC president Abaraham “Bambol” Tolentino said they have already written a letter of request to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to process Pacquiao’s eligibility via the “universality rule.”
“Sumulat na kami sa IOC bago pumunta dito [sa Pilipinas]. Request and appeal na ‘yun na i-consider siya sa universality route,” Tolentino said during a dinner presenting the Asian Games medalists to the Philippine media on Sunday night, October 8.
The IOC has made available the nine universality slots — five for women and four for men — to eligible national Olympic committees.
Tolentino said among the arguments he raised to back Pacquiao’s eligibility is the boxing icon’s star power, which will be useful to promote boxing in general.
“‘Yung boxing accolades niya will be a shot in the arm for boxing. Siguradong magiging blockbuster ‘yun,” the POC executive said.
They prefer Pacquiao to go through the universality route since he is no longer eligible for the 19-to-40-year-old age limit in Olympic qualifiers.
The former eight-division world champion is currently 44 years old, pushing to 45 this December.
For his part, Marcus Manalo, Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines secretary general, hopes that the age limit will be waived in the case of Pacquiao.
Manalo said the limit was put in place to protect the boxer.
“Baka pwedeng i-challenge ang age limit,” he said.
“Kasi itong 44-year-old na ito eh much more conditioned sa mga 30-year-old na nagko-compete,” he added.
Manalo said just having someone like Pacquiao in their lineup will definitely boost the confidence of the national boxing team.
“If it gets approved, that would be extremely beneficial for us. Presence palang ni Senator Pacquiao will be a big boost to the team, bukod pa ‘yan sa medal chances,” he said.
“It will be good for the sport. I hope the IOC considers that you have an eight-division world champion who still wants to compete at the Olympics,” he added.
However, he admitted the IOC will have the final say on the matter.
“We’re hopeful, but we have to manage expectations,” he said.
In September, Pacquiao reiterated his desire to compete in the Olympic Games, stressing that it has been a dream of his since his teenage days.
Pacquiao currently weighs 66 kilograms, and has to choose between 63.50kg and 71kg that are on the Paris boxing program.
Professional boxers are allowed to compete in the Olympics.
In the Tokyo Games in 2021, 43 of the 186 competitors were professionals, including middleweight bronze medalist Eumir Felix Marcial, who beat fellow professional, Armenia’s Arman Darchinyan, in the quarterfinals. (ABS-CBN News)