Arum wants Pacquiao to think over come back

By Boxing News - 06/01/2016 - Comments

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By Chris Williams: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum wants Manny Pacquiao to evaluate how much time his new senatorial job will take from his everyday life before making a decision whether he can return to the ring for a fight. Pacquiao was just elected into the senate in the Philippines last May.

The new job is a six-year commitment. Arum wants Pacquiao to see how much time the senate job will require of him. If the job turns out to be too much time for him to return to the ring for a big fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez or Floyd Mayweather Jr., then a comeback won’t be possible.

It’s difficult to believe the 37-year-old Pacquiao won’t make a comeback if Arum can line him up with a second fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. or a match against Mexican star Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

Pacquiao could likely take the bigger cut of the revenue in a fight against Canelo. That fight might bring in well over 1 million buys, possibly as many as 2 million.

Pacquiao vs. Mayweather 2 would be bout that would likely do have the PPV numbers as their fight last May did. That fight brought in 4.6 million buys. So we’re talking about two fights being out there for Pacquiao where he could rake in the money if he’s able to find the time to make a comeback.

“My counsel to Manny is to take some weeks and see the commitment of a senator, and how much time it will take and whether it leaves time for him to train for a fight,” Arum said to Lance Pugmire of the LA Times. “If the answer is that it’s too time-consuming and overwhelming, that solves the problem. If no, he can find time to train, and he wants to, then the question is, ‘Do you want to fight?’ If the answer is yes, then I’ll make him a fight.”

Pacquiao probably should have waited a couple of years before running for the senate because he wouldn’t have shortchanged his boxing career by retiring before he’d gotten a second fight against Mayweather and until he’d faced Canelo Alvarez.

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Those two are the only real options for Pacquiao. Arum isn’t going to ask him to fight Gennady Golovkin or someone like Gilberto Ramirez. A fight against Terence Crawford wouldn’t be a big enough fight for Pacquiao to make a comeback. It would have to be Mayweather or Canelo.

“I have been informed by reliable sources on that side that Mayweather has no desire to fight anybody,” Arum said.

I don’t think Arum’s source is correct about Mayweather not coming back. I do think he’s going to come back, and I can see it happening either in September of this year or in May of 2017 against Conor McGregor.

Pacquiao could be an option for Mayweather as well in a second fight if he chooses to comeback. Mayweather isn’t going to push it if Pacquiao is staying in the Philippines and concentrating on his senate job. It would be one of those situations where if Pacquiao is out of sight then he’s out of mind.