According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Manny Pacquiao should return to the ring sometime between February and April and his promoter Bob Arum has five names in mind for the comeback fight.
“Manny will be fighting next year,” Arum said. “I think everything will be good for him to fight by February. He can probably start training by the end of this year. We’ll let the doctor tell us when. I thought maybe Manny would fight one or two more times, and when I said that, Manny corrected me. He said he wants to keep fighting.”
“Manny said his shoulder is fine, but that is not good enough for me,” Arum said. “He’s supposed to have an MRI in Manila, I think later this week, and is supposed to have it sent to Dr. ElAttrache to examine it. But Manny said he feels good.”
Said Michael Koncz, Pacquiao’s adviser: “Manny is in the Philippines doing charity work and working in Congress. His shoulder is healing well, but he won’t fight again this year. The doctor says nothing this year. But Manny wants to go in late February or March.”
“He’s not going to run for re-election to congress. Instead, he’s running for senate, and in the Philippines, the senate is a national election. So he wants to fight and then concentrate on the campaign. It’s very important to him,” Arum said. “I’ve spoken to Manny a couple of times [recently], and he is more interested in talking politics than boxing.”
The list includes leading candidate Amir Khan, a former unified junior welterweight titlist and top welterweight contender, welterweight titleholder Kell Brook, junior welterweight titlist Terence Crawford, junior welterweight contender Lucas Matthysse and Juan Manuel Marquez, the Mexican great Pacquiao has waged four outstanding fights against, going 2-1-1 but finishing the fourth fight on his face as the result of a gargantuan sixth-round knockout in December 2012.
“If Manny fights Khan, Khan will probably bring 3,000 or 4,000 people over from the U.K. for the fight,” Arum said.
“We won’t deal with Haymon. We deal directly with family about fighting Manny Pacquiao,” said Arum, who was able to work with Haymon to make the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, although it was extremely difficult and before the lawsuit was filed.
“We want to know for sure the status of Juan Manuel Marquez before we make any decisions,” Arum said. “Fernando is meeting with him to see what he wants to do. His knee appears to be 100 percent. Fernando told me he sparred a few rounds recently to test it out. Marquez would be the most lucrative fight, and Manny would be happy to fight him again.”
Said Koncz: “Amir Khan I think is the best choice for the fans, and Brook is the second choice.”
“I like the United States. What are we schlepping around the word for,” Arum said. “We had great deals in Macau before, but you lose so much of the [American] pay-per-view going there [because of the time difference].”
Arum said he has had offers to do a Pacquiao fight in the Middle East, in a location such as Dubai, but “those deals are always built on sand, as they say. We have plenty of interest in Las Vegas.”
