Pacquiao meets Ronaldo as boxing, sports stars descend on Saudi for Fury-Ngannou bout

MANILA, Philippines – Manny Pacquiao and Cristiano Ronaldo were all smiles when they met each other in Saudi Arabia.

The two legends of their respective ports met in the Middle Eastern country in time for the “Battle of the Baddest” boxing match between mixed martial arts star Francis Ngannou and boxing heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.

A video posted by Boxing on TNT on X (formerly Twitter) showed the interaction between the two.

“Hey, Pacquiao!” Ronaldo said, as he happily called the Filipino eight-division world champion.

“HEY PACQUIAO!” ????@Cristiano absolutely LOVED meeting the legend @MannyPacquiao ????#BattleOfTheBaddest #FuryNgannou pic.twitter.com/DHmHUX64qm

— Boxing on TNT Sports (@boxingontnt) October 27, 2023

The two exchanged pleasantries as they took a photo together.

Pacquiao also met with former rival Ricky Hatton in Saudi.

“He’s only offered me out at darts… What a gent,” Hatton’s post on X read.

He’s only offered me out at darts ???????? what a gent @MannyPacquiao @Tyson_Fury @RiyadhSeason @Turki_alalshikh #furyngannou #battleofthebaddest ???????? pic.twitter.com/CpIlacqR1x

— Ricky Hatton MBE (@HitmanHatton) October 27, 2023

The Filipino knocked the lights out of the British boxer back in 2009.

Top Rank Boxing also posted a video of several athletes, including Chuck Liddell, Israel Adesanya, Randy Couture, Mike Tyson, Oscar dela Hoya, Ronaldo and Pacquiao, among others.

So many legends in one room ???? pic.twitter.com/xM9ntCnbur

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) October 27, 2023

The crossover boxing match between Fury and Ngannou will happen at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh early Sunday morning (Philippine time.)

It is a highly anticipated bout between the “Gypsy King” and “The Predator.”

It is Ngannou’s first-ever boxing match.

The 37-year-old Ngannou is 17-3 in mixed martial arts, with 12 knockouts.
Fury, meanwhile, is undefeated in 34 bouts. He has 24 knockouts under his belt.

The match was announced back in July.