I will fight the best fighter – Pacquiao

by Nick Giongco

DALLAS – Before they went separate ways in Vienna on Friday, Manny Pacquiao gave his official US representative Sean Gibbons the assurance that the Filipino legend is looking after only the biggest available fights.

With Floyd Mayweather insisting that he is done with boxing, it doesn’t appear that Pacqiao’s world is coming to an end, according to Gibbons, who joined the former pound-for-pound king in a quick European tour.

“I will fight the best (available) fighter,” Gibbons quoted Pacquiao as saying before he flew here via Washington and Pacquiao taking an Emirates flight to Dubai.

Pacquiao, the reigning World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight champion, is arriving here at 9:50 am just in time to catch Errol Spence defend his International Bxing Federation 147-lb title against Mikey Garcia at the AT&T Stadium in nearby Arlington.

Of course, Pacquiao will stop looking for prospective foes if Mayweather decides that he would love to do a rematch.

But with Mayweather retired, Pacquiao is looking elsewhere and there is plenty to choose from.

There’s the winner of the Spence-Garcia showdown and there’s former sparmate and current World Boxing Council titlist Shawn Porter, coming off a win last week.

Then there’s Keith Thurman, the WBA super champion, who had defended the title last January.

Tim Smith, the former New York Times fight scribe who now works as the publicity chief of Premier Boxing Champions under which Pacquiao and the other marquee names at welter fight, swears Pacquiao’s first visit here in almost a decade tells a lot.

“I don’t remember him attending a fight (to look for an opponent),” said Smith.

Pacquiao, 40, fought here twice in 2010, winning against Joshua Clottey in March and Antonio Margarito in November.