MACAU—Celine Dion has “boxed out” Manny Pacquiao from the spotlight.
The superstar singer will stage a concert on Nov. 8 at Cotai Arena in the palatial Venetian Hotel and Casino here, forcing Top Rank to move Pacquiao’s next fight from the previous scheduled date of Nov. 16 to Nov. 23.
Top Rank big boss Bob Arum, in town for the Nonito Donaire-Simpiwe Vetyeka WBA featherweight title fight, said they have moved the date for the Pacquiao mega fight.
The reason behind the move is to give organizers enough time to drumbeat the two major spectacles to be held in the biggest casino complex in the region.
Arum said he has talked to Pacquiao camp but has yet to name the next opponent. Among those mentioned are Amir Khan, Ruslan Provodnikov and Juan Manuel Marquez.
“We have lots of names, list and list of names,” Arum told Filipino sportswriters during the grand arrival of Donaire and Vetyeka at the hotel main lobby.
Arum added that Pacquiao could get the biggest paycheck of his career in the next fight. “Manny can’t make less—for any fight—than $20 million,” said Arum. “It goes up from there, somewhere between $20 million to $30 million,” he said.