by Nick Giongco
Manny Pacquiao is going to shop for an opponent as Floyd Mayweather seems looking the other way and doesn’t see the Filipino southpaw on his radar screen.
Mayweather came out publicly yesterday and boasted that his next fight will be in July against a Japanese boxer.
Again, it won’t be an official fight but an exhibition and very much like the one he did when he toyed with a Japanese kickboxer on New Year’s Eve 2018 in Tokyo.
With Mayweather sounding off that granting Pacquiao a rematch is far from his mind, the 40-year-old fighting lawmaker has started looking elsewhere.
Major fights in March featuring his fellow Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) boxers are taking place on March 9 and 16 in California and Texas, respectively.
On March 9, former Pacquiao sparring partner Shawn Porter defends the World Boxing Council crown while Errol Spence risks his International Boxing Federation title on March 16.
Sean Gibbons, Pacquiao’s US representative, said the reigning World Boxing Association 147-kb king might end up watching Spence at ringside at the AT&T Stadium (formerly Cowboys Stadium) in Arlington, Texas.
“You’ll never know who you might bump into,” said Gibbons, adding that Pacquiao’s presence should further fire up interest in the already red-hot welter division.
Last month, Pacquiao regained his place among boxing’s top draws by retaining the WBA diadem for the first time by beating up Adrien Broner in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao had wanted to return to the ring in May since the Senate is on break but it now appears that the earliest his fans can see him in the flesh again will be July.
