Manila Bulletin

Boxing meeting up

- NICK GIONGCO

Adrien Broner, the handpicked foe of Manny Pacquiao on Jan. 19, has responded to the Filipino star’s revelation that they are bound to square off in Las Vegas.

“Come get what you looking for,” Broner wrote on his social media account following Pacquiao’s announceme­nt that he is returning to the ring next year.

The MGM Grand has been reserved and the Broner battle will be Pacquiao’s first appearance on US soil in over two years since his last took place in November 2015 when he beat Jessie Vargas.

Broner, a four-division champion, fights like Floyd Mayweather and he is expected to give Pacquiao trouble in their showdown for Pacquiao’s World Boxing Associatio­n welterweig­ht crown.

If victorious against the 29-yearold Broner, holder of a 33-3-1 mark with 24 KOs, Pacquiao will earn another shot at Mayweather as part of the deal that he signed with Al Haymon, who represents Mayweather.

Pacquiao, who has a 60-7-2 ledger with 39 KOs, turns 40 on Dec. 17 but is coming off his first stoppage win in almost a decade when he mauled Argentina’s Lucas Matthysse last July in Kuala Lumpur.

Though a formal announceme­nt has yet to be made by Haymon, key events are already being facilitate­d, including a two-city press tour that kicks off in New York early next month.

The second and last leg will be Los Angeles just before the two fighters begin their training camps.

Pacquiao eventually signed with Haymon following the expiration of his contract with Bob Arum’s Top Rank, Inc.

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