In this week’s mailbag, we tackle your thoughts on two fighters well past their primes (Manny Pacquiao and Josh Taylor), as well as a few heavyweights (Moses Itauma, Justis Huni and Anthony Joshua).

Want to be featured in the mailbag? Comment or ask a question in the comments section below. Submissions may be edited for length and clarity. We also may select readers’ comments from other BoxingScene stories.

What a joke. I saw Pacquiao’s exhibition bout with Rukiya Anpo. I saw the exhibition bout with DK Yoo. I saw Pacquiao vs Yordenis Ugas. I saw Barrios vs Ugas. Pacquiao hasn't won a fight in six years. Barrios is going to destroy him.

-famicommander

Maybe I’m totally wrong, but if Pac Man can beat anyone after a few years away from the sport, it’s Barrios. Yes, his calendar age is a tough one for a pro boxer, and it’s not like he’s a heavyweight with huge power like George Foreman to pull it off, but maybe he’s got one last great performance left. 

-Liondw

Kieran Mulvaney’s response: I must say, I’m a bit surprised by how many people, including boxers and ex-boxers, are giving Pacquiao a chance here. Have we already forgotten about the last time an aged legend faced off against a youngster who couldn't hold his jockstrap during his peak?

Yes, there’s a big difference between 46 and 58; Pacquiao has been inactive for far less time than Mike Tyson and has taken far greater care of himself. But Pacquiao’s success was built on footwork and fast-twitch muscles; as I pointed out in our recent roundtable, guess which qualities are most likely to wither and die with age? And while Barrios may not be a Jaron “Boots” Ennis-quality welterweight, neither is Yordenis Ugas, and he beat the snot out of Pacquiao four years ago.

I’ll be honest: I have a bad feeling about this. I think this is going to be ugly.

MOSES ITAUMA STILL A PROSPECT BUT NEEDS TO STEP UP

Feels like this one [Moses Itauma vs Mike Balogun] was a step back. I’m all for them taking their time with Itauma, but this didn’t do anything besides put another number in the W and KO columns – though to be fair, that’s part of the marketing.

-Toffee

Itauma is still only a prospect. I hope their plan is not to keep on fighting on that level of opponent and then fight for a vacant belt when Oleksandr Usyk retires. Itauma’s next two to three fights should include names like Hughie Fury, Jermaine Franklin, Otto Wallin, Guido Vianello and Arslanbek Makhmudov. If Itauma beats that level, then he is ready to take on somebody like Martin Bakole.

-JakeTheBoxer

Jake Donovan’s response: The fight with Mike Balogun felt like a means to get Moses Itauma back in the ring. The original plans called for him to fight in March, then that was pushed back to the April 5 Filip Hrgovic-Joe Joyce card and eventually this card. It wasn’t an ideal opponent by any stretch. Chances are, there will be more complaints to come with his July 19 fight given who was already ruled out (Martin Bakole, Joseph Parker).

There is a silver lining, however: Itauma is part of an exclusive group of top heavyweights with a vested interest in the outcome of the Oleksandr Usyk-Daniel Dubois rematch. It makes perfect sense for him to be on the undercard. Reading the tea leaves, a fight with Parker is very much a possibility for later in the year. By Frank Warren’s own admission, though, it is a bout significant enough to headline its own show.

Should the Usyk-Dubois winner opt to honor the overdue mandatory versus Parker, it still provides a clearer direction for Itauma and Queensberry. We could see the Bakole fight make its way back into the conversation (Bakole’s team suggested December as an ideal timeline).

As for fighting for a vacant title, I don’t see it as an intentional plan as much as an unfortunate potential scenario depending on how Usyk-Dubois II plays out. A win by Dubois opens more doors than would a repeat victory by Usyk, who has already led a Hall of Fame career and could just decide to call it a day after his next fight or two.

The main point is that we couldn’t be concerned about Queensberry coddling Itauma. He’s coming off a Prospect of the Year campaign and is still growing into his man strength. Queensberry knows what it has in its 20-year-old knockout artist.

JOSH TAYLOR’S LEGACY GETS WORSE WITH EACH FIGHT

Taylor’s legacy is not aging well, in my opinion. I was never impressed with him. I think he got very lucky to fully unify at a weak time in the junior welterweight division. Certainly seems like time to hang it up.

-crimsonfalcon07

David Greisman’s response: Is it Taylor’s legacy that isn’t aging well, or is it Taylor himself who isn’t aging well? I think it’s more the latter. Let’s talk about his accomplishments first and then return to what has happened since.

Yes, Taylor’s ascent to the undisputed championship at 140lbs came in the wake of Terence Crawford achieving the feat first – and then vacating all four titles. Crawford’s rise came against Thomas Dulorme for the vacant WBO belt, the then-unbeaten Viktor Postol to add the WBC and then a drubbing of unified IBF/WBA titleholder Julius Indongo to complete the run.

When Crawford moved up to welterweight, the many prospects and contenders who had still been developing during his campaign were ready to step up and try to fill the void. Taylor beat Postol before entering the World Boxing Super Series tournament. By the time Taylor won the finale in 2019, he had beaten three undefeated foes – Ryan Martin, Ivan Baranchyk and Regis Prograis – and won the IBF and WBA belts.

Jose Ramirez, meanwhile, had opted against joining the WBSS. Ramirez defeated Amir Imam for the vacant WBC title, defended it against the unbeaten Antonio Orozco and once-beaten Jose Zepeda, took out the undefeated Maurice Hooker to add the WBO belt, and then won a majority decision over Postol.

By the time Taylor and Ramirez met for all the marbles in May 2021, they were clearly the best two fighters in the weight class and had gone through several of their fellow contenders to earn that recognition. Taylor’s close points win over Ramirez made him the new king.

But then, like Robert Baratheon on “Game of Thrones,” Taylor became king and then got fat and drunk.

“I ate too much good-tasting bad food, too many pizzas, Chinese and takeaways. I drank too much beer,” , ahead of his fight with Teofimo Lopez Jnr.

A lack of discipline can do a fighter in. Making 140lbs had never been easy for Taylor, and he wasn’t helping himself. So it’s no surprise that we’ve seen Taylor disappoint and decline in that highly controversial first win over Jack Catterall, in returning from a 15-month layoff and losing his lineal championship to Lopez in June 2023 and in the Catterall rematch nearly a year later. Taylor was 34 when he fought Ekow Essuman last weekend. That age is usually toward the end of a fighter’s prime years. Taylor likely brought his prime years to a premature end many years ago.

UNCERTAIN ABOUT JUSTIS HUNI’S CHANCES AGAINST FABIO WARDLEY

I like Huni. Nice guy with fast hands and great combos. Gotta say, I’m unsure how he will hold up to Wardley’s power. If Huni can, he’ll outbox him, I think. Can’t forget the Kevin Lerena fight, where Huni got buzzed and would have been finished if Lerena wasn’t gassed. 

-Adsy

Lucas Ketelle’s response: Huni represents an aspect of boxing that is beloved and fun: Can a prospect make the leap to contender? 

Huni has passed all the tests set before, but now, like an eager college graduate looking to find employment in the “real world,” everything he has done up to now leads to this. Judgment will be cast upon him based on the result, and in a results-based business, that is fair.

At 12-0 (7 KOs), Huni will be fighting Wardley, 18-0-1 (17 KOs), a fighter who entered boxing with similar ambitions and hopes. Wardley, as you said, is the biggest puncher he has ever faced (and is also undefeated). Additionally, Huni is a smaller heavyweight at 6ft 4ins and normally weighs in around 241lbs.

Huni’s biggest asset is punch speed and volume. If he passes the test, maybe we have a new era of heavyweights, with guys like Agit Kabayel and Huni cementing themselves as top contenders. It’s an intriguing bout that will answer some of the questions around Huni’s career trajectory.

ANTHONY JOSHUA STILL A STAR EVEN IF NO LONGER A CONTENDER

Anthony Joshua, who can still sell tickets and move the needle in ratings, will take an easy fight against a nobody in November. Then we will see one of three plans: 

1. If Deontay Wilder wins his comeback fight and maybe another one in the same time frame as Joshua's comeback-from-surgery fight, they will fight each other in the spring of 2026. Five years too late, but still a fight that will sell in the same morbid way Amir Khan-Kell Brook did. 

2. If Wilder is not an option and Tyson Fury stays retired, Joshua will fight a “name” who is shot early next year and use a two-fight win streak to push for a bigger fight. In a best-case scenario, Oleksandr Usyk retires and Joshua has an outside shot for another worthless title off that worthless two-fight win streak.

3. Joshua loses his get-well fight, everyone realizes it is actually over and he mercifully calls it a career.

Color me crazy, but I think option 1 is most likely. Call me mean, but I am cheering for option 3.

-landotter

Owen Lewis’ response: A couple other possibilities: Daniel Dubois loses to Usyk in July and, his dreams of undisputed glory foiled, chases a Joshua rematch for the biggest money fight possible. Or maybe Fury does un-retire, prompting Joshua and company to forgo a tune-up and jump on that fight immediately.

I suspect your option 3 is likelier for Wilder than Joshua, which might also ruin the chances for option 1 – it’s beyond me that some are still floating Wilder for marquee fights. Wilder is four years older than Joshua and shot to bits. Option 2 seems possible; Eddie Hearn recently told BoxingScene’s Tom Ivers that a two-fight deal with Riyadh Season was being discussed and that Dillian Whyte and Jared Anderson had been floated as potential opponents.

I agree with you that Joshua is likely to take a soft touch next, though. If his championship-level career isn’t over already, he will be keenly aware that he can’t afford another loss. His star power means he’ll probably get another title shot or an enormous fight before he retires, so I expect him to move cautiously until that fight begins to materialize.

Want to be featured in the mailbag? Comment or ask a question in the comments section below. Submissions may be edited for length and clarity. We also may select readers’ comments from other BoxingScene stories.