Arum: Pacquiao done with big foes

There’s no point risking the career of the world’s finest fighter by pitting him against bigger guys.

Manny Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum said Wednesday he will not wear out the pound-for-pound king again by having him fight big foes.

“At this point, I don’t want to put Manny in with another big guy, a guy even bigger than (Antonio) Margarito,” Arum told boxingfutures.com.

“It’s not that he couldn’t beat them … but it’s like a great racehorse. I can’t keep putting him in with bigger, stronger guys without wearing him out.”

The Top Rank chief said that, notwithstanding Pacquiao’s domination of Margarito—who was five inches taller and 17 pounds bigger during their WBC super welterweight title duel last Sunday—the Filipino superstar’s next fight should be at 147 lb or lower.

In clinching a record eighth title in as many weight divisions, Pacquiao himself admitted that the 165-pounder Margarito packed a lot of wallop.

The 78-year-old Arum said he doesn’t want to endanger the career of his megastar, who started his career as a light flyweight (108-111 lb).

Pacquiao wound up with a rib cage injury and his hands were swollen by the impact of the 411 power punches he bombarded Margarito.

“That (Margarito) fight really affected (Pacquiao) physically,” Arum said in the same report. “He took a lot more beating in that fight than he did in the others. It’s tough giving away that kind of weight and size.”

He said among those in his short list of probable Pacquiao foes are Floyd Mayweather Jr., Shane Mosley and Juan Manuel Marquez. Photo by Associated Press