According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Manny Pacquiao will retire after his fight in April to pursue a seat in the Philippines senate.
“I’m telling you what he told me last week at dinner in New York,” said Bob Arum. “We talked very seriously and he said, ‘Bob, hopefully, by the middle of May I will have been elected senator in the Philippines and at that point I cannot engage in boxing because I need to focus on the senate and I have to be in attendance.’
“Manny told me this fight on April 9 will be his last fight.”
“There are hundreds of congressmen but if he wins the senate seat he has to be there to do the work. They do the real work in the senate in the Philippines, not just make a lot of b——t speeches like they do in the congress,” Arum said. “It’s a real job and if Manny is serious about wanting to be president, these six years in the senate would be like an audition and for him to show his people that he really is a serious politician.”
“Manny told me this would be his last fight and I’m not sad about it because he’s going on to a political career which will require a lot of mental acuity, so you don’t want him to stay in boxing too long,” Arum said. “If he stays in boxing a little too long his mental faculties might be somewhat impaired.”
Pacquiao’s opponent is not set, although there are some names on a short list, including junior welterweight titlist Terence Crawford (26-0, 18 KOs). Arum is promoting his defense against Montreal’s Dierry Jean on Saturday night in Crawford’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, and Arum said a strong performance from Crawford would give him the inside track on the fight with Pacquiao.
Arum said that England’s Amir Khan (31-3, 19 KOs), a top welterweight contender and former unified junior welterweight titleholder, is also in the mix.
Arum named Juan Manuel Marquez and Timothy Bradley Jr. as two other candidates.
“My deal with Manny is that after I have my conversations with all the likely contenders I go to Manny and (adviser) Michael (Koncz) and lay everything out and let them pick who Manny wants to fight,” Arum said. “I gather information, I explain to them the details of each deal and if they ask my opinion I give them my opinion.”
Arum said he also has had people in the Middle East — Dubai and Qatar — contact him about hosting a Pacquiao fight. But that has happened regularly for years and nothing has come of it.
“There’s always been a lot of talk but all it’s been is talk, so my feeling is we would do it in Las Vegas,” Arum said.
