A few days ago, when Manny Pacquiao arrived back home to the Philippines, the eight division world champion informed numerous Filipino scribes that last weekend's fight against Jeff Horn was "his last fight" under his promotional agreement with Top Rank.
Not so, says Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum.
According to Top Rank, Pacquiao's promotional agreement does not expire until the middle of 2018.
Last weekend, Pacquiao suffered a shocking twelve round decision loss at the hands of 2012 Australian Olympian Jeff Horn, before a crowd of over 51,000 at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. Over 3 million watched the fight in the United States through Top Rank's TV deal with ESPN.
There is a lot of controversy over last week's decision, with many observers disagreeing with the scorecards - which were 115-113, 117-111, 115-113 for Horn. With the victory, Horn captured Pacquiao's WBO welterweight championship.
Pacquiao has the option of exercising an immediate rematch clause. Horn is already on board, embracing the opportunity to face Pacquiao for a second time.
There is no guarantee that Pacquiao, 38-years-old, will fight again. His political career has really taken off since winning a senatorial seat in Philippines over a year ago.
Arum plans to sit down with Pacquiao in the coming weeks to discuss his future.
“He can make a lot of money (fighting Horn in a rematch),” Arum told the Manila Bulletin. “It’s all up to him and in two weeks I will be coming over (to the Philippines) and discuss with him and his wife Jinkee."
If Pacquiao decides to fight again, Arum says a Horn rematch can take place on a date in “November or December.”
According to Arum, Brisbane has the contractual right to match any offer for the rematch, so there is a high probability of the second fight taking place in Australia. That may not sit well with Pacquiao, who was very vocal about holding the rematch either in the Philippines or on neutral ground like Las Vegas
2023-10-18 22:39:48
