Filipino boxing champ Manny Pacquiao does not plan to hang his boxing gloves in 2016. His declaration on Saturday belies a statement made on Thursday by promoter Bob Arum that the congressman would retire next year and run for a Senate seat.
Arum was quoted as saying, "I believe he'll take one more fight, then run for the Senate in the Philippines."
"I know what is happening to my body," Boxing Scene quotes Pacquiao who says he had not spoken yet to Arum, CEO of Top Rank, which handles the boxing career of the 36-year-old boxer. Talks of retirement swirled following Pacquiao's controversial loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in their May 2 "Fight of the Century."
A few weeks ago, Arum expressed disappointment with Pacquiao's failure to return to the U.S. for follow-up appointment with his surgeons. The boxer instead went to Indonesia to visit a Filipina domestic worker spared from the death sentence for drug smuggling.
Because of the right shoulder injury that Pacquiao sustained, he had to undergo surgery in the U.S. before returning home to the Philippines. He said he expects to recover from the injury in time for a fight in April 2016, although his ring opponent has not been named yet.
One of the boxers being speculated as Pacquiao's likely opponent is British boxer Amir Khan with the United Arab Emirates as the likely venue for the fight, reports Agence France-Presse. Arum said in May that a Dubai delegation was convincing him to arrange for a Pacquiao-Khan bout in 2016 in the UAE city.