Things seem to have gone pretty quiet regarding superstar Manny Pacquiao’s next fight. First it was Australia’s Jeff Horn in Australia in April, then it was British star Amir Khan in the UAE in May, and now…….nothing.
As Top Rank boss Bob Arum explained a few days back, the money failed to appear for the Khan fight to go ahead, much as he expected all along, and the search began anew for Pac-Man’s next opponent. But it seems the Khan fight is not quite dead in the water yet. Arum has now said that, “Hopefully that fight [Pacquiao-Khan] can happen in November.”
But even if this intriguing match-up of former gym and spar-mates does take place in November, who will Manny fight next? Why is it taking so long for the former multi-weight king to nail down his next opponent? Are fight fans still fully interested in seeing the reigning WBO welterweight champ do his stuff?
As talent-rich as today’s 147 pound division is, there is no shortage of action Pacquiao could get involved in. Pacquiao against the likes of Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia or Khan in his next fight would be great for the fans, but we still await the future Hall of Famer’s next move.
Arum admits he doesn’t even know where Manny will fight next, let alone who his dance partner will be:
“I don’t know yet where [the next fight] will be,” Arum said to ABS-CBN in the Philippines. “We are discussing various places, but obviously the fight finance is always there as part of making the fight, so that’s not a problem.”
But there does seem to be a problem finding a suitable opponent for Pac-Man. Maybe the southpaw dynamo, who last boxed in November of last year (and looked pretty good in decisioning Jessie Vargas), will wait until this November and just go ahead and fight Khan for big money then.
One fight that will definitely not take place is a fifth fight with Juan Manuel Marquez; the Mexican great recently stating how he will never fight Pac-Man again, even for the staggering sum of $100 million. This is a shame, as a final fight between these two legends would very possibly be the ideal way for both greats to see out their careers.
