Pacquiao eyes next fight in Malaysia in May or June
Famed boxer Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines speaks to the media during a press conference with Jeff Horn of Australia in Brisbane, Wednesday, June 28, 2017. Pacquiao, is putting his WBO belt on the line Sunday, July 2, against the 29-year-old Horn. (AP Photo/John Pye)
Manny Pacquiao made it clear once more that his fighting career isn’t over.
In a TV interview with ABS-CBN, boxing’s only eight-division World champion said he would fight once more in Malaysia either in May or June after he rejected an undercard offer to face Mike Alvarado this April in Las Vegas.
“Definitely, Malaysia is where we will fight,” said Pacquiao in the report (H/T BoxingScene.com). “If not May, this coming June, maybe third week of June, so the preparation will not conflict with my work.”
Pacquiao is also a senator in the Philippines’ upper house and is part of the legislative’s majority party PDP-Laban.
The 39-year-old boxer last week rejected to fight in the undercard of Jeff Horn-Terence Crawford bout, which was for the WBO World welterweight title—the last belt Pacquiao owned.
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, told BoxingScene.com that a group of investors approached the Filipino boxing icon to stage a fight in Malaysia.
Pacquiao said those in Malaysia “appealed to have a fight there.”
At 39-years-old, Pacquiao (59-7-2) is considerably in the twilight of his career and his last fight ended in a controversial loss to Horn wherein he lost the WBO belt.
Pacquiao briefly retired in 2016 when he beat Timothy Bradley for the WBO World welterweight title but that retirement lasted just seven months when he fought Jessie Vargas, for the same strap, in November of that year.
Despite the brief rest, Pacquiao has yet to knock an opponent out in eight years with his last stoppage coming in his 2009 conquest of Miguel Cotto.
