By Nick Giongco
Manny Pacquiao is about to do something he’s never done before – watch a potential foe live at ringside.
On Saturday night (Sunday noontime in the Philippines) at the AT&T Stadium (formerly Cowboys Stadium) in Arlington, near Dallas in Texas, Pacquiao will see whether International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight king Errol Spence or challenger Mikey Garcia or somebody else will end up sharing the ring with him when the Filipino legend returns to action.
Pacquiao, who is with wife Jinkee and key members of his inner circle in the final leg of their Switzerland-Germany-Austria tour, will arrive in Dallas on the morning of Saturday.
Sean Gibbons, who is with Pacquiao in Salzburg right now, is setting the stage for the fighting senator’s first trip to Dallas in almost ten years.
In 2010, Pacquiao fought twice there against Ghanaian Joshua Clottey before 50,994 fans and Mexican Antonio Margarito in front of 41,734 spectators.
Even if Pacquiao doesn’t end up getting paired with either Spence or Garcia, another guys is also on the radar screen: Keith Thurman.
Pacquiao, Spence, Garcia and Thurman are all aligned with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), making it easier for a fight involving them to be finalized.
While Haymon won’t make himself seen, he will be closely monitoring the proceedings and see where Pacquiao will fit in the drawing board.
Adding a touch of intrigue to the slugfest will be the highly-possible attendance of the lord of all the PBC fighters in Floyd Mayweather.
Traditionally, Pacquiao doesn’t see fights of potential rivals live, leaving the burden of choosing his opponents to his promoter.
Last January, Pacquiao, who turned 40 last December, easily beat Adrien Broner to retain his world welterweight crown at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
