In a separate interview, Arum reportedly advised Pacquiao to forget about pursuing a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
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Founder and CEO of Top Rank Bob Arum has stated that Manny Pacquiao will lace up his boxing gloves for the final time on April 9 of next year.
Arum said he had discussed plans for a final fight with Pacquiao last week in New York – where Pacquiao received the Asia Game Changer award presented by the Asia Society at the United Nations.
“I’m ready. I’m gonna let my handlers, (co-managers) Cameron Dunkin and Brian McIntyre, talk to Bob Arum and Team Pacquiao, and let’s see if we can make it happen”.
Now a congressman, Manny hopes to run for his national senate in May of 2016, which explains the timing of the scheduled swansong.
Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs) has won world titles at flyweight, junior featherweight, featherweight, junior lightweight, lightweight, junior welterweight, welterweight and junior middleweight.
Earlier this year du brought the world’s most awaited boxing match between Pacquiao and Mayweather, live from the MGM Grand, to its valued home customers so that they could witness the uninterrupted action.
Absolutely, I mean he caught me with a couple good right hands but I literally told him, ‘is that all you got?’ and was thinking I took your best shot but can you take mine?
Mayweather has already retired from boxing, although he is barely removed from the ring.
Two of the senate seats in the Philippines are up for election in May, giving Pacquiao about a month to campaign once he retires.
If the pay-per-view numbers are to be believed, and they never ever are, Mayweather took a 90-percent haircut, Pacquiao-to-Berto, and Gennady “Our Next Superstar” Golovkin didn’t do even half Mayweather’s new number, despite allegedly breaking Madison Square Garden attendance records not even the Empire State though to track till GGG’s invasion.
The fight won’t have the Midas touch for Crawford’s career in the same way that an Oscar De La Hoya fight had a Midas touch for Pacquiao’s career in turning him into a PPV star overnight. Yes it’s still possible and remains very interesting, especially for the Filipino fans, aching for a Pacquiao revenge after that one-punch TKO victory by the Mexican in their last fight. Timothy Bradley, Juan Manuel Marquez and Terence Crawford have also been mentioned by Arum as possibilities.
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Marquez, a former rival, said that he is not interested in extending that rivalry with Pac-Man to a fifth fight. When he returns on April 9 it will be after major shoulder surgery and a pedestrian performance (to put it kindly) in the “fight of the century”, an event so overhyped and ultimately lame that boxing is in desperate need to move on – from both the bout and its principals.
