Weeks before his highly anticipated mega fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao has been working hard to focus on his trainings and sparring sessions with Freddie Roach and his camp. Yet on April 13, the boxing icon took a short break as he got a surprise visit from another sports champ - UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey herself.
The Pac-Man himself posted a photo evidence of his special visitor, where they can be seen standing side by side while smiling. "Thank you for visiting me @RondaRousey and for your support. God Bless!" the 36-year-old professional boxer tweeted.
The two world champions apparently are in good terms, and they have even dropped each other's names on multiple occasions this year. Back in January, Pacquiao wished the UFC superstar the best of luck ahead of her UFC 184 showdown with Cat Zingano, according to Bloody Elbow.
On the other hand, in a past interview with TMZ, Rousey said she would be rooting for the Filipino champ over the undefeated American boxing champ, Mayweather Jr., simply because "Pacquiao has been very, very nice to me." A few weeks after Rousey's declaration, Pacquiao con ESPN television that the MMA superstar could beat Mayweather in an MMA fight, referring to her extra-ordinary strength, Bloody Elbow stated.
Yet, while a fight between a boxer and an MMA fighter can generate much interest among both boxing and UFC fans, it's highly unlikely that such event can happen. It is interesting to note that just last month, Rousey grabbed headlines when she responded to Laila Ali's comment on whether she could beat the rowdy fighter in a fight.
Ali, a retired boxer who held an undefeated boxing record herself, said of Ronda Rousey: "She's too much smaller than me...She's like the size of my daughter." When asked if she could beat Rousey in a bout, Ali replied, "No woman in the world can beat me. Period."
Rousey, 28, did not agree with Ali's words though. In an interview with The Daily Beast, the current UFC Bantamweight champ said, "I understand why she'd think that because she has a size advantage, but if you saw my last fight it had nothing to do with size or strength at all. That's not how I beat people. So you can't count having a size and strength advantage as having a real advantage against me."
Join the Conversation