By DENNIS PRINCIPE
MP Promotions President Sean Gibbons is amenable to seeing WBA welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao fight in an exhibition match should a lucrative offer come their way.
The well-known international matchmaker said this when told about a reported offer from Macau.
Gibbons admits he’s not aware of such proposal but that it would fit Pacquiao’s schedule later this year since everything remains fluid regarding the sport of boxing anywhere in the world.
“Any opportunity that the Senator has to box in during this pandemic is great for him to stay sharp,” said Gibbons in a message sent to Tempo.
A source recently told Tempo that an unnamed group in Macau is about to offer a deal that would see Pacquiao appear in a lucrative exhibition match.
The group, said to be connected with the Macau government, apparently got wind of a previous deal signed by Pacquiao that would have pit the fighting senator against a Japanese boxer in a three-round exhibition match in Papua New Guinea.
“Manny Pacquiao already agreed and signed that contract last February. He was supposed to be paid $6 million for the exhibition match,” revealed the source.
Pacquiao and his group were already scouting a potential Japanese opponent who was willing to slug it out with the Filipino boxing icon this July but the pandemic eventually scuttled the event.
But right now, Gibbons said the senator is keeping himself in shape and ready to stake his WBA belt anytime within the year.
“He is staying prepared for a return to fighting the biggest names in the world in defense of his WBA title,” added Gibbons.
The 41-year-old Pacquiao last fought in July of last year when he decisioned American Keith Thurman in their 12-round WBA welterweight title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
