Manny Pacquiao shuns Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois when naming his favourite fighter

Manny Pacquiao is about as credible as it gets when it comes to boxing expertise.

Pacquiao won 12 world titles in eight weight classes across four decades in a stellar career that carries a 62-8 record, establishing himself as one of the sport's true all-time greats.

The feisty southpaw has spent much of his time in politics in the last 15 years and has fought twice this decade, but the 47-year-old is still able to offer his stamp of approval to the top talents in boxing today.

Asked by Vibe to name his favourite active fighters, Pacquiao swerved the likes of WBO heavyweight champions Daniel Dubois and undefeated former undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk, who vacated his WBA, WBC and IBF belts last month but stated that he was not retiring from the sport.

Instead, the Filipino icon revealed that he enjoys watching Naoya Inoue more than anyone else.

"I love to watch Inoue. Yeah, Inoue, the Japanese guy," said Pacquiao, as reported by Boxing News.

"He’s fast, and he has his footwork, but I told him before when he wasn’t a champion. He asked me about what’s better to train, and I told him footwork.

"When you have footwork, you can control your opponent. You can properly throw your combination punches without losing balance."

Inoue, 33, is a hugely respected fighter. Like Pacquiao, he has been a multiple world champion in several weight divisions.

He has a spotless professional record, claiming 27 of his 33 unanswered wins by knockout. All six decision wins were unanimous.

The Japanese fighter currently holds the undisputed super bantamweight title, an honour no other man has achieved.

He vacated the undisputed bantamweight title without a defence to move up a class in early 2023 and went on to beat Pacquiao's compatriot Marlon Tapales by knockout in the tenth round to achieve the historic unification of the super bantamweight belts.

Inoue successfully defended his titles seven times in two years, most recently by unanimous decision against Junto Nakatani in Tokyo in May.

The reigning WBC bantamweight champ is Takuma Inoue, Naoya's younger brother.

Pacquiao is one of boxing's greatest

Inoue's record is reminiscent of Pacquiao, who also moved between divisions without relinquishing his dominance.

He burst onto the scene with 11 wins out of 11 in the mid-nineties and won 26 of his first 27 professional bouts.

Pacquiao won the WBC flyweight title in 1998 and enjoyed an extended spell as super bantamweight champion either side of the turn of the century.

The legendary fighter won back-to-back title matches in his forties, but his last win was in the summer of 2019.

Yordenis Ugas beat 42-year-old Pacquiao to win the WBA welterweight belt in 2021 after the Filipino was stripped of the title due to inactivity.

Pacquiao's last professional fight was a draw against WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios in Las Vegas in July 2025.

At 46 years old, PacMan was squaring off against a fighter 15 years his junior.