Canelo fight possible if Manny returns

Canelo Alvarez    AP

CANELO Alvarez will be the leading candidate to face Manny Pacquiao if the Filipino superstar decides to return to the ring after the senatorial elections.

Top Rank chief Bob Arum disclosed this recently as he confirmed reports that he has held preliminary talks with Golden Boy Promotions CEO and Alvarez promoter Oscar De La Hoya for the possible fight, set later this year at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas.

Alvarez scored a sensational sixth-round knockout victory over Briton Amir Khan on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) to retain his World Boxing Council middleweight crown.

While Canelo and De La Hoya are free to explore possibilities, including a much-awaited showdown with the Mexican’s fellow middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin also this year, Pacquiao’s comeback will largely depend on the outcome of his senatorial candidacy at home.

“Manny is running for the Senate and is officially retired,” Arum told elpasotimes.com. “But if he comes out of retirement, Canelo is a guy that (trainer) Freddie Roach and Manny are talking about, wanting to fight. So, if that fight does happen, then AT&T Stadium would be the perfect venue.

“(Cowboys owner) Jerry Jones is a really good friend of ours and I know that Oscar (De La Hoya) has talked with Jerry. But I don’t want to jump the gun because, if Manny gets elected to the Senate, he may decide he doesn’t want to fight anymore.”

Arum also does not discount the possibility that Floyd Mayweather Jr. might come out of retirement to fight Pacquiao in a rematch for a purse of no less than $100 million. Mayweather is also looking at UFC star Conor McGregor as a possible foe.