WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao will be fighting twice in 2015, says his adviser Michael Koncz. The first fight, which take place in April or possibly May depending on the opponent, will be staged in the United States. The second of the year in November will be staged in Macau, China, where Arum is trying to open up the Chinese markets for pay-per-view.
It’s important to have Pacquiao fight in front of the large Chinese audiences over there. Pacquiao has already become a popular fighter in China, and he and Arum just need more time before the Chinese market will be open for big pay-per-view fights.
“We’re under contract to have two fights,” said Koncz to Philstar.com. “Based on what we’ve discussed in the past I believe the way it stands now we’ll fight in Macau once a year – in November.”
The Macau fights haven’t been doing well for Pacquiao in terms of his pay-per-view numbers. Of course, Arum hasn’t helped in that regard by matching him against lesser names in putting him in with Brandon Rios and Chris Algieri. In hindsight, those were not good picks by Arum, but then again he doesn’t have many options to match Pacquiao against. Many of the top welterweights fight for Al Haymon and Golden Boy Promotions. Pacquiao has been stuck fighting the Tim Bradleys, Rios, Algieris and Shane Mosleys instead of the bigger names.
The top priority for Arum is to try and put together the fight between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr for May. If the fight can’t get made for early 2015, then Arum will be looking to put it together for later this year in September or November. It’s important that he make a strong effort to put the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight together this year because there’s no telling if Mayweather will continue to fight after 2015.
Pacquiao’s contract with Top Rank runs through the end of 2016. Pacquiao will be fighting at least two times a year under the contract barring any kind of injury that keeps him out of the ring. It’s likely that he’ll re-sign with Arum once the contract expires unless he’s content with the money he’s made and the things he’s accomplished with his career.
Pacquiao should still be near the top of his game by the end of 2016. He’s slipped some but the welterweight division doesn’t have a lot of guys that would be a threat to him other than Mayweather, Keith Thurman and Amir Khan. Thurman and Khan are both Al Haymon fighters, so they’re not really an option for Pacquiao.
