By NICK GIONGCO
Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum has booked the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas for a possible Manny Pacquiao Oct. 15 headliner, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported over the weekend.
While Pacquiao is officially retired from the sport, Arum, the 84-year-old Top Rank chief is making sure that he has a date reserved in case the Filipino star gets the opportunity to take a break from his legislative duties in the Senate.
Arum insists that it’s just a date and that Top Rank can use it to stage a show other than Pacquiao because rival companies are starting to save dates for the second half of the year.
Names being mentioned as possible foes include Top Rank mainstay Terence Crawford and the Al Haymon-managed pair of Danny Garcia and Adrien Broner.
Recently, Arum and Haymon, also the man behind Floyd Mayweather Jr., have started exploratory talks about matching their fighters.
Arum is unsure if Pacquiao can quickly get the green light to return to the ring but is certain that the 38-year-old eight-division champion “would like to fight again.”
“But the question is he’s not going to fight again if it really affects his work at the Senate,” Arum told the paper.
Pacquiao has been sworn in as a senator in the Philippines and he officially begins life as a member of the Senate this Thursday.
Pacquiao last fought in April, soundly beating Tim Bradley at the 16,000-capacity MGM Grand and saw action at the Events Center, which sits 10,000, a couple of times against Marco Antonio Barrera and David Diaz.
Even Freddie Roach, the esteemed trainer, insists Pacquiao still has a couple of epic fights remaining.