PacMan, 46, is set to face the WBC welterweight champion, 30, on July 19 in what will be his first appearance in the ring since August 2021, though Maligaggi, 44, is adamant Pacquiao shouldn’t be able to afford this opportunity immediately, considering he has been out of the world of professional boxing for years.

Speaking to Fight Hype, Maligaggi said: “I think none of us should be bigger than the sport and I stand by that.

“I feel that you always have to respect the sport first. But nonetheless, some guys will take that upon themselves, they have a bigger name and you can just come into a title shot.

“We know boxing never follows the rules, but you’re not supposed to fight for a world title if you’re coming off a loss and you’re not supposed to fight for a world title if you’re not in the rankings. And to get into the rankings you need to fight, you can’t be inactive.

“So we’ve broken a bunch of rules to make the Mario Barrios fight with Manny Pacquiao.”

Maligaggi added Pacquiao - who last fought and lost to Yordenis Ugas in 2021 - may find his age is too big a hurdle to overcome in his bout with Barrios.

He explained: “Pacquiao, having not fought in a while, being 46 years old, a lot of tough fights, a lot of wear and tear on Manny Pacquiao … Manny had 70 pro fights and he wasn’t a defensive specialist. A lot of impact, a lot of back and forth impact.

“So how are his legs going to be? That’s my biggest thing because Manny was a range-changing fighter, he was that style, in and out.

“An in and out guy needs his legs, and he needs his legs the whole fight — unless he lands something big.”

Even so, Maligaggi said Barrios “sucks”.

He said: “I will say I think Mario Barrios sucks, bro. I think he sucks. I think he guy is horrible ... I can’t get it out of my mind, Barrios is a front foot heavy and he’s 5’10”.

“Like you’re just going to eat every shot, you’re 5’10” and front foot heavy - and that’s what he does, he eats every shot. He gets hit with every jab, every straight right or every left hand.”