Manny Pacquiao, whose interest in fighting seemed to all but disappear following his controversial decision loss to Jeff Horn in July, has reportedly had a change of heart and is eager to get back into the ring.
“We are going to find him a date in April,” promoter Bob Arum told the Manila Bulletin.
According to Arum, Pacquiao’s return will see him matched against a tune-up level opponent that will lead to a bout against the winner of a still-to-be-confirmed Jeff Horn-Terence Crawford WBO welterweight title bout. No specific date or venue have been announced for his return, but the Filipino icon has reportedly ruled out a spot on a Horn-Crawford undercard.
Pacquiao, who had a rematch clause in his contract with Horn, was supposed to return last November, but eventually pulled back from the proposed rematch, citing conflicts with his duties as Senator in his home country as the reason.
Australia’s Horn defeated Pacquiao this past July in a sloppy, ugly wrestling match of a bout via unanimous decision in Horn’s hometown of Brisbane. In defeating the multi-division world champ, Horn became WBO welterweight champ and has since made one successful title defense—against UK fringe contender Gary Corcoran in December.
Although Arum’s plan is clearly to match Horn against Crawford, with the winner moving on to Pacquiao, Horn’s people have wavered in recent weeks. Recent reports have his team asking for an exorbitant $5 million purse for the Crawford fight and chatting up the possibility of a move to junior middleweight.
Should Horn remove himself from the Horn-Crawford-Pacquiao triangle, Crawford, as the WBO’s recently designated no. 1 contender, would likely meet the highest-ranked available WBO welterweight contender for the vacant belt. Should Crawford win THAT bout, however, there’s no guarantee of him facing a Pacquiao who has never been eager to even discuss the possibility a Crawford fight.
Beyond a tune-up in April and a vague half-commitment to facing the Horn-Crawford winner later on, not much seems to be there for a comebacking Pacquiao. The scenario, as it is now, paints the picture of a Bob Arum eager to force a passing of the torch moment on his fighter, something which the future Hall of Famer has absolutely not been willing to offer up.
Despite his advancing age and waning interest in the fight game, Pacquiao, who just turned 39 last week, seems to want to go out on top and not allow for a younger fighter to piggyback off his name. He’ll have to decide, however, just how much he wants to extend himself in what is probably his last year in the sport. A soft touch in April and a shot at redemption against Horn would seem to be ideal, but with Crawford likely to beat Horn (should they meet), in-house Top Rank/Arum business will be pushing hard for a tougher than tough match-up against Crawford and THEN, possibly, a “revenge” rematch with Horn.
Behind the scenes tugs-of-war between Pacquiao and Arum in the coming weeks will determine just how this comeback will be laid out.