Manny Pacquiao still dares to be great, even this deep into the twilight of his career.

The former eight-division champion is set to return following more than a two-year absence. A soft touch is not sought, as the full-time senator will face unbeaten, unified WBC/IBF welterweight titlist Errol Spence. A date of August 21 has been reserved at a yet-to-be-named venue Las Vegas, with the bout first revealed Friday afternoon by Pacquiao and Spence themselves. 

"Done deal, I'll see y'all in Vegas for the biggest fight of the year," Spence stated Friday on his verified Instagram account.

The fight will top a Fox Sports Pay-Per-View event, with additional details to still be confirmed by Premier Boxing Champions.

“Viva,” Sean Gibbons, president of Manny Pacquiao’s MP Promotions exclaimed to BoxingScene.com upon revelation of his longtime superstar client revealing the news. “History!”

Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39KOs) has not fought since a 12-round win over then-unbeaten Keith Thurman in July 2019 WBA welterweight title consolidation clash. The took place at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, topping a Fox Sports PPV event which reportedly sold 500,000 units.

The win saw Pacquiao enjoy a fifth title run at welterweight, one of a record-breaking eight weight divisions where he has won a lineal championship or an alphabet title. Pacquiao held the belt until earlier this year, before the WBA decided his inactive period was grounds to reshuffle its titles. It was long enough for the 42-year-old Filipino southpaw to once again enter the history books as the only boxer in history to claim world title status in four separate decades.

The win over Thurman marked just the second time in his storied career where Pacquiao bumped off an undefeated titlist. The other occasion came in April 2014, when he outpointed Tim Bradley to reclaim the WBO welterweight belt nearly two years after a highly questionable split decision defeat in June 2019.

Spence (27-0, 21KOs) represents a different challenge altogether.

The 31-year-old southpaw from Desoto, Texas is widely regarded as the one of the sport’s best pound-for-pound and a consensus choice as the best welterweight in the world today. Spence reaffirmed his place among the sport’s elite in his most recent performance, a 12-round unanimous decision win over Danny Garcia last December at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The fight was the first for Spence after recovering from multiple injuries sustained in a horrific single car crash in October 2019. The near-fatal occurrence took place just two weeks after Spence unified the WBC and IBF titles following a Sept. 2019 split decision win over Shawn Porter at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Spence’s wins over Garcia and Porter both topped separate Fox Sports PPV events, as did his 12-round shutout of Mikey Garcia in their March 2019 battle of unbeaten pound-for-pound entrants.

There were earlier talks of Spence pursuing a three-belt unification clash with Yordenis Ugas (26-4, 12KOs), who was upgraded to WBA "Super" welterweight champion as the sanctioning body declared Pacquiao as its "Champion in Recess." Spence-Ugas never evolved beyond rumors, as the working theory was always that the rest of the welterweight division would take shape once Pacquiao landed on an opponent for his ring return. 

In that regard, Spence remained alongside Mikey Garcia as a leading candidate. Rumors of Pacquiao potentially facing WBO welterweight titlist Terence Crawford (37-0, 28KOs) ultimately died on the vine, with the conversation pushing closer to Spence once event handlers were able to secure an ideal PPV date. 

The superfight gives PBC two confirmed major PPV shows along with a potential third for this summer. Gervonta Davis (24-0, 23KOs) moves up two weight divisions to face secondary WBA junior welterweight titlist Mario Barrios (26-0, 17KOs) on June 26, live on Showtime PPV from State Farm Arena in Atlanta. 

While the fight has yet to be announced, rumors continue to swirl of lineal/WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (30-0-1, 21KOs) and Deontay Wilder (42-1-1, 41KOs) colliding for a third time on July 24 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. 

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox