Just this time last year, Manny Pacquiao was retired and preparing for his election for a Senate seat in his native Philippines.
Fast forward a year later and we have Pacman being pushed for four fights in 2017, but he has quickly brushed off the possibility in a piece by Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports.
"I'm not a robot. I'm human. To fight twice a year is hard for me. How much if I fight 4 times a year? It's going to be impossible," Pacquiao said. Promoter Bob Arum also acknowledged his ward's admonition.
"I don't have to get into the ring," Arum said. "If he says four times is too much, it's too much. He's the guy fighting and he knows what it does. It's the same as a race horse. You want to race him, but you have to guess if he is ready. The horse can't tell you, but the fighter can. So if he says he's fighting twice, that's what we'll do. He's the boss."
It's difficult to fault Arum since Pacquiao was his cash cow and now he's about to lose him. But on other fronts, the Filipino fighter has been cooperative with Top Rank. He even agreed to a superfight with Conor McGregor, a Mixed Martial Arts champion.
However, he reiterated that he would take the McGregor challenge if it's a boxing match and under boxing rules. This was a fight previously offered to Pacman's arch rival Floyd Mayweather, Jr. The deal seems unlikely as Dana White doesn't seem interested in negotiating with Arum.
Arum seems to have brushed aside the idea of pitting Terrence Crawford, one of his wards, against the current welterweight champion, at least for now as Chris Williams of Boxing News 24 claimed that Australian Jeff Horn is already the next opponent.
"Pacquiao and Horn will be fighting on April 23 at the Suncorps Stadium in Brisbane, Australia. It's unclear if this is the final fight of Pacquiao's contract with Top Rank."
Recent statements by Pacquiao to ABS CBN (h/t Yahoo Sports) contended that the Horn fight is not sure yet.
"We are still negotiating about that. Nothing is really final, the date, who is the opponent. There are a lot of offers from other countries," the Filipino Senator stated.
Has Arum jumped the gun again? Is this why Dana White avoids him?