Three months after it began, Manny Pacquiao’s retirement is already over.
On Tuesday promoter Bob Arum told ESPN that the 37-year-old welterweight icon, who retired in April after defeating Timothy Bradley by unanimous decision, will fight again this fall. The bout will take place either on October 29 or November 5 in Las Vegas and will air on pay per view.
Just who Pacquiao will fight remains unknown, although Arum did specify that it won’t be Adrien Broner, the shit-talking wild card who, Arum said, was asking for a “crazy number.”
“He wanted what we haven’t paid anybody in a long time. Just a crazy number. In effect he wanted parity with Manny,” Arum said of Broner. “The kid is crazy.”
Arum mentioned Terence Crawford and Jessie Vargas as possible opponents for Pacquiao. Notably, he promotes both of them.
The other mystery surrounding this fight is where it will take place. Arum said he’s “scrambling around trying to get a location,” which is proving difficult becuase of Pacquiao’s busy schedule as a Senator in the Philippines.
Already, Arum has had to scrap one comeback date because Pacquiao had Senatorial duties to attend to. The difficulty of juggling boxing with the Senate is something the fighter predicted before announcing his retirement in April. “If I win a senate seat, I have a big responsibility, and I need to focus on that,” he said.
Pacquiao’s apparent 180 on this stance has drawn out the critics, who he responded to on social media Tuesday. “IF EVER I DECIDE TO FIGHT AGAIN, REST ASSURED, IT WILL HAPPEN WHEN CONGRESS IS ON RECESS SO THERE’S NO NEED FOR ME TO GO ON LEAVE,” he wrote, in all caps, on Facebook.
As for weather the world’s only eight-division world champion is still in shape, here’s a video he posted a few weeks ago. He looks ready.