Manny Pacquiao's New Challenger Calls Him 'Hero' But Vows To 'Take His Head Off'

A new challenger called Manny Pacquiao his hero but vowed to “take his head off” should they face each other inside the ring.

Current WBA welterweight champ Pacquiao made headlines after Freddie Roach linked his name to a possible middleweight bout against Gennady Golovkin. Many are already talking about the hypothetical fight, but some in the 147-pound division are still hoping to share the ring with the eight-division title holder.

In recent weeks, WBO welterweight champ Terence Crawford has been name-dropping Pacquiao for a unification bout. However, a new challenger recently came out and also discussed a potential showdown with the Filipino legend.

In an interview with BT Sport’s Chris Charles, current IBF and WBA light welterweight title holder Josh Taylor weighed in on how he would match with some of the present-day top-tier welterweights such as Pacquiao and Errol Spence.

According to Taylor, Pacquiao was his childhood “hero,” but if given a chance to face him inside the ring, he would go in there and “take his head off.”

“Manny Pacquiao is my hero. To share the ring with my hero would be brilliant. It would be amazing. That would be a dream come true in itself sharing the ring with Manny Pacquiao. Obviously once you get in there you go in there to take his head off. I would love to fight my hero it would be brilliant,” Taylor said.

The 29-year-old even noted that a jump to 147 pounds would not be a problem for him as he is naturally comfortable weighing around 140 pounds. Taylor is confident that he would do well against every single one of the best guys in the welterweight division, especially against Spence, whom he accused of torturing himself just to make 147.

“I’m pretty big for one 140. I can afford to go on and put one a bit of muscle and a bit of strength. I think it works in my advantage with the speed coming up from the slightly lower weight with Spence killing himself to make 147, me coming up with the speed and the natural weight would work in my advantage,” he pointed out.

Taylor isn’t heavily considered as Pacquiao’s next opponent. However, the undefeated champ makes a more credible challenger than Yordenis Ugas.

Earlier in May, Ugas became an unlikely challenger for Pacquiao after suddenly calling out all the current welterweight champs. According to Ugas, he presents a strong case as he has already beat Crawford in the past and was robbed against Shawn Porter.