Manny Pacquiao Fights Again in the Fall – so says Bob Arum

Manny Pacquiao Fights Again – It’s long been rumored that Manny Pacquiao’s retirement would be short-lived. Yesterday, July 12, his promoter Bob Arum let the cat out of the bag. Arum confirmed that Pacquaio would be returning to the ring on Oct. 29 or Nov. 5. The venue and opponent haven’t yet been determined.

Why would Pacquaio, a veteran of 66 pro fights, return to the ring and risk further damage when he has no more worlds to conquer and his duties in the Filipino Senate carry such great responsibility? In a nutshell, boxing is in his blood. He misses it. Interviewed by ESPN boxing writer Dan Rafael, Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz said: “He misses training. He misses being in the gym. You can see when he trains it’s like a stress reliever for him. His mood changes. It’s like he’s in happy land.” Moreover, it’s not as if the Senate is in session year-around. There are periodic recesses.

Manny Pacquiao Fights Again

There were a lot of questions surrounding Pacquaio heading into his last outing, a rematch with three-time rival Tim Bradley. He had been inactive for almost a year and was coming off rotator cuff surgery. But Pac-Man put those questions to rest with a vintage performance. He scored two knockdowns en route to winning a unanimous decision.

Arum tried to lure Adrien Broner into the ring with Pacquiao, but Broner reportedly priced himself out of the market. That would have been a very easy fight to sell. Although Pacquaio lost some of his fan base with comments that were hurtful to members of certain groups, he is still, to a great extent, venerated as a man of great virtue. Broner is at the other end of the spectrum and we’ll leave it at that.

Pundits are guessing that Arum will turn to Jessie Vargas. It would be a logical choice as Vargas is in the Top Rank stable, his fight with Kell Brook just fell out, and he is recognized as the world welterweight champion by the World Boxing Organization, the entity that sanctioned the Pacquiao-Bradley rubber match. Another strong possibility is the winner of the forthcoming 140-pound clash between Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol. A Top Rank promotion, Crawford vs. Postol takes place July 23 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

If the fans could pick the opponent, they would likely vote for Keith Thurman, the WBA welterweight title-holder. Another attractive pairing would see Pac-Man opposing Sammy Vasquez – but only if Vasquez looks sharp against Felix Diaz this coming Saturday in Birmingham, Alabama. Vasquez sits a notch below Jessie Vargas in the rankings of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board.

Manny Pacquiao Fights Again