Pacquiao, Bradley clash anew April 9
LOS ANGELES—Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao will return to the ring on April 9 in Las Vegas to take on Timothy Bradley for a third time, promoter Bob Arum said Wednesday.
Top Rank promotions chief Arum confirmed to AFP that the bout was slated for the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
While Pacquiao has spoken of retiring after an April bout to pursue his political career, Arum said he would not market the bout as Pacquiao’s last.
“I’m not certain it is his last fight,” Arum said. “It may well be his last fight, it may not be his last fight. You cannot in good conscience sell it that way.”
A congressman since 2010, Pacquiao said he would seek a seat in the Senate in 2016.
The 37-year-old, who owns a record of 57-6-2 with 38 knockouts, hasn’t fought since a May 2 unanimous decision loss to unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. in their long-awaited bout that shattered revenue records for the sport, generating about 4.5 million pay-per-view purchases and $600 million (P28.3 billion) in gross revenue.
Pacquiao aggravated a shoulder injury in that bout and underwent surgery.
This week, Pacquiao said in his Facebook page his shoulder was “100 percent.”
“He’s playing basketball with it, scuba diving with it,” Arum said.
January fight announcement
Arum said there were no obstacles to the fight taking place, with major terms such as guaranteed money decided.
“These fighters have fought for me for many years,” he said, adding that the fight would be formally announced with press conferences in January.
Pacquiao and Bradley have met twice before, with the American taking a controversial split decision in a fight many thought Pacquiao had won in June 2012.
Pacquiao avenged the defeat and regained the World Boxing Organization welterweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision in April of 2014.
Bradley, 33-1-1 with 13 knockouts, has since regained the WBO belt and will be coming off a ninth-round technical knockout of Brandon Rios on Nov. 7.
Other fighters reportedly on the shortlist as April opponents for Pacquiao included England’s Amir Khan or Terence Crawford, the current WBO super lightweight world champion.
Arum said satellite and cable television providers voiced a preference for Bradley.
“This is a different Bradley because his style is completely different,” Arum said. “Teddy Atlas has turned him into a completely different fighter. The question is, can Manny beat this Bradley.”