From press conferences in Las Vegas and Los Angeles to training sessions at the Wild Card gym, The Ring has been front and center closely following Manny Pacquiao's comeback campaign as he prepares to end a four-year retirement Saturday at 46 against WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios.

To get an even better perspective of how the Hall of Fame icon has been preparing in training camp, we caught up with Sean Gibbons, the chief operating officer of Manny Pacquiao Promotions and his right-hand man since 2018.

The following is in Gibbons' words and has been edited for length and clarity.

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Pac-Man-mania is back, baby!

We're watching history unfold right in front of our eyes. We're watching a guy attempting to do something that's never been done before in boxing history at 147 pounds. It's going to be one of the greatest wins of all time if Manny Pacquiao beats Mario Barrios.

There's so much intrigue. It's like we're going to a magic show and waiting for Manny to pull a rabbit out of a hat or make a car disappear. We're all holding our breaths and waiting for the first bell to ring to see how he's going to handle Barrios.

Manny was written off and left for dead in Australia after losing to Jeff Horn in 2017, but resurrected himself with wins against Lucas Matthysse in 2018, Adrien Broner and Keith Thurman in 2019 before losing to Yordenis Ugas in 2021. He’s ready for another resurrection.

The last fight against Ugas left everyone depressed because he lost and retired. Even though he retired, he always had that burning desire to fight. He was never done, and now he’s ready to do it again.

The Pacquiao that was 38, 40, and 42, there was activity. He was fighting. The first round against Barrios will be a very telling round, just like it was in the Thurman fight when Manny knocked him down and ended up winning a decision. Even in the Ugas fight, Manny was doing good until the eighth round.

If Manny's gas tank is there, I think he beats Barrios easily. He's a better fighter with better all-around skills and has got the power to do it.

When the opportunity presented itself to fight Barrios, he took it. When Manny started camp, he was a little slow. He got the jet lag out and the kinks out in the first week. He wasn't really training over the last four years other than playing basketball and badminton and doing a few exhibitions.

As he moved along, I saw him flip the switch and turn the corner to the next level soon after he was inducted into the International Hall of Fame during the first weekend of June. By the fourth week of camp, it was the Pacquiao that I saw when he was preparing for Thurman. I've been judging what I have been seeing based on his last two fights.

Training camp has been an incredible experience. It's exciting just to be around it. It's been a time warp. It's like we fell out of the sky, and four years was forty minutes. I'm pinching myself because it seems like we're living in a dream world.

People want to be around him. People want to see him. Fighters like Teofimo Lopez, Vergil Ortiz, Emiliano Vargas, Shane Mosley, MMA icon Cris Cyborg, NFL star Cam Bynum, policemen, firemen – you name them – have all paid homage to the living legend and joined him for his public workouts and runs at Griffith Park.

He's also leading by example for the Filipino fighters who are with him like Mark Magsayo, Jerwin Ancajas, Eumir Marcial, and Carl Martin. They are living the dream of being around him, training with and fighting alongside him.

Manny has been smart and strategic as the days have gone by. He knows better than anybody at what point he needs to take a day off for a little rest.

The hand speed and power is still there, the angles are there, and he works harder now than he did for Thurman and Ugas. Coaches Freddie Roach and Buboy Fernandez will tell you, too, that they have to stop him and slow him down.

Sparring partner Saul Bustos, a world class welterweight, tells me, "I can't see Manny's punches coming."

Pacquiao is the best version of a 46-year-old you're going to get. We don't know, because there's no template, right? We don't know positively what we're getting on fight night. But I see the flashes and brilliance.

The heart, determination, and desire to win is a 20-year-old Manny Pacquiao. Mentally, he's the same killer and winner. He's Michael Jordan. He's Kobe Bryant. He's Tom Brady. He's facing Barrios and Father Time, and he needs to get Father Time in check early in the fight.

I like that old saying, the great ones, the Hall of Famers, 75% of Pacquiao beats 100% of Barrios. That's very possible. I think Barrios is going to take a look for a minute to realize what Manny's got.

Reaction to a real fight is different from sparring, hitting pads, and exercises. We don't know exactly what's going to happen until the fight. If I saw anything I didn't like over the last few weeks, I would be nervous. But I saw vintage Manny Pacquiao working out.

No disrespect to Barrios. The guy is a monster out there. He looks to be in unbelievable shape and he's coming to rumble. What intrigues everyone in the industry is that Barrios comes to fight. He's not a late-replacement opponent like Ugas going into some Cuban shell. Barrios is right there, in your face, and he's hittable. That's why people are excited and are giving Pacquiao a shot, even though he's the betting underdog.

As for what's next if Pacquiao beats Barrios, if you look at who's the biggest draw in American boxing, and who puts the most butts in the most seats, it's Gervonta Davis.

Gervonta pushes the buttons and is a household name in many ways. Pacquiao and Davis match up very well. For the first time in a long time, Manny would actually be a taller and bigger fighter than his opponent. That's the dream. We were close at one time to fighting Davis. We were talking but we couldn't come to an agreement on a couple of things and the timing didn't work out.

If Manny beats Barrios and Davis beats Lamont Roach in his rematch, I think that's the fight. The people would be really intrigued. You couldn't sell it as much before Manny fought Barrios because everyone was saying Gervonta is a beast, but Gervonta got exposed a little bit and had a bad night against Roach, and the shine is off a little bit. If Manny shows brilliance against Barrios, they are going to buy into a Tank fight in a heartbeat.

Once Manny gets the WBC 147-pound title, it would be a great 47th birthday present to make the fight in December. But everything begins on July 19 against Mario Barrios.

Viva Manny Pacquiao!