Wednesday, January 11, 2017

SPORT | Arum eyes 'world tour' for Pacquiao

Manny Pacquiao and his longtime promoter Bob Arum
By Dino Maragay/Philstar
           

MANILA, Philippines – Manny Pacquiao may see himself fighting in different parts of the world this year.

As far as Top Rank Inc. chief Bob Arum is concerned, Pacquiao will see action outside the United States in his next fight.

The last time the Filipino icon fought on non-US soil was about three years ago, against Chris Algieri in Macau.

Now, Arum sees Pacquiao embarking on a world tour.

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“What came up is this opportunity for Manny to fight in various places in the world,” Arum told Keith Idec of BoxingScene.com.

Australia is likely a first stop for Pacquiao, who will reportedly take on Brisbane-based Jeff Horn on April 22.

“Australia, England, the Mideast and Russia, even. I’ve been getting offers. So then I talked to Manny and we decided, ‘Let’s do a world tour like [Muhammad] Ali.’ And as long as he’s performing OK, every couple months we’d fight in a different place. And that was very appealing [to Pacquiao],” Arum continued.

The veteran promoter said various parties from around the world want a piece of Pacquiao, who, at 38 years old and despite being on the tail-end of his career, still remains a recognizable name.
And Arum wants to capitalize on that until the very end.

“We have a letter from Russia, wanting Pacquiao to fight some guy who’s pretty good in Russia. Eddie Hearn has called me about fighting Kell Brook in England. And we have all these Mid-Eastern people sniffing around,” he added.

Arum also said that if he would have his way, he’ll have Pacquiao fighting again in July and September – both outside the US too – before closing the year out with a showdown against Terence Crawford in the US.

But with Pacquiao a sitting Philippine senator, Arum’s wish might be far-fetched.

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