The Peninsula
Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao and football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo had a chance meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on October 28. The two crossed paths on the sidelines of the 'Battle of the Baddest' bout between boxing heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and ex-UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
The encounter between the global sporting icons was captured by TNT Sports Boxing and shared on their Instagram handle, which has nearly half a million likes as of this writing.
In the video, Cristiano Ronaldo with his usual infectious grin appeared visibly thrilled upon coming face-to-face with Manny Pacquiao, the only eight-division world champion in boxing history. "Hey, Pacquiao!" Ronaldo exclaimed with genuine enthusiasm. "I went to your last game." The two athletes engaged in a friendly exchange and posed for photographs.
Pacquiao’s wife Jinkee also took to her Instagram handle to share photos from the encounter. A long-time Ronaldo fan, she wrote in the caption, “A dream come true!"
Many netizens were delighted by the gestures of the two sports heroes, commenting:
"@babelyncarwana: Ronaldo's reaction was priceless when he saw Manny despite the fact that they are both well-known, the respect for each other was amazing. Salute to both of you!"
"@jhon_canlas: "They both experienced hard life when they were kids, and now they are 'the greatest of all time'. What a journey for these two legends."
"@hnct27: It's funny how most people approach Ronaldo first, but here, it's the other way round, which just shows how much Ronaldo respect someone that works just as hard as him."
"@daanielle.88: "Ronaldo so humble and respectful. I like it!!!"
On November 7, Ronaldo and his Al Nassr team will face Qatari club Al Duhail in the AFC Asian Champions League-Group E at the Khalifa International Stadium.