LOS ANGELES — Manny Pacquiao is planning to fight again later in 2016, just three months after announcing his retirement from boxing, ESPN reports.
Pacquiao, who had previously said his win over Timothy Bradley in April was his final bout, would fight on October 29 or November 5 in Las Vegas against a yet-to-be-determined opponent, promoter Bob Arum said.
Since Pacquiao’s "fare-well" bout three months ago, the 37-year-old former world boxing champion has won a senate seat in the upper house of congress in the Philippines.
According to the report, Arum had placed a hold on the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas for a possible Pacquiao return on October 15, but the southpaw’s responsibilities forced a change of plans.
"Manny wants to come back. The problem is he can only come back if it doesn’t interfere with his senate duties," Arum said.
"We had pencilled him in for October 15 at Mandalay Bay, but we were informed that is no longer possible because he has to spend that week leading up to October 15 formulating the budget in the senate and doing the votes.
"He has to be there for that week, so that knocks out that week. He can’t mess around with that. The question is building availability because we want to do the fight in Las Vegas."
Pacquiao’s unanimous decision win over Bradley was his first fight in nearly a year after his loss to Floyd Mayweather. He had said he was bringing the curtain down on his career to concentrate on politics and his family.
Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz said the southpaw, while committed to politics, is happiest when he is in the ring.
"Manny’s primary concern and obligation is to fulfil his senatorial duties," Koncz said. "But he just misses (boxing)… He misses being in the gym. You can see when he trains, it’s like a stress reliever for him. His mood changes. It’s like he’s in happy land,"
Reuters