by Nick Giongco
Adrien Broner is already in the gym training as the Floyd Mayweather clone expressed his excitement to bring Manny Pacquiao to a war he’d never been to.
“I will be war ready,” the 29-year-old Broner said in his Instagram account that was accompanied by a short clip of him doing the mitts on top of the ring.
Although a formal announcement has yet to be made, Pacquiao and Broner are already locked in for a January 19, 2019 showdown at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight crown that Pacquiao won by seventh-round knockout of Argentine slugger Lucas Matthysse last July in Kuala Lumpur will be at stake.
Al Haymon, who represents Broner and Mayweather, will be at the forefront of the promotions while Pacquiao’s MP Promotions will likewise be involved to handle the other key roles in the event.
It is widely believed that Pacquiao is being set up to battle Mayweather in a rematch also next year provided that the Filipino eight-division champion survives the wily Broner.
By the time Pacquiao faces Broner, he will already be a ripe 40-years old and a professional for almost the last 25 years.
Broner, who holds a 33-3-1 win-loss-draw record with 24 KOs, is also a multi-division titlist, having won four titles from super-featherweight (130 lbs) to welter (147 lbs).
Pacquiao, who packs a whopping 60-7-2 card with 39 KOs, aligned himself with Haymon after the lapse of his contract with Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank.
But Pacquiao’s premier motivation in hooking up with Haymon was for him to secure another shot at Mayweather’s scalp after losing to him in May 2015.
Mayweather himself didn’t rule out a second meeting with Pacquiao when they ran into each other a couple of months ago in Tokyo.
