Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao announced on Wednesday that he would have a second rematch with British boxer Timothy Bradley on April 9, two years after their rematch in Las Vegas.
Although it Pacquaio's last professional fight, Bob Arum, the boxer's promoter, says that "People should not buy the fight because they believe it's Manny's last fight. They should buy it if they believe with Bradley's improvement this is really competitive fight."
Pacquiao, a congressman representing Sarangani Province, is running in May 2016 for a Senate seat. He has been criticized for absences because of preparations for his fights. Arum says that if Pacquiao would win in the 24-seat Upper House, he could no longer afford to be absent and train for three months for his next bout.
Besides, Pacquiao turned 37 in December and a Senate stint would be a minimum of three years if he is in the bottom 12 and six years if he is in the upper 12. With his popularity in the country where the former construction worker rose to become a folk hero because of his rags-to-riches story, he could easily win a Senate seat.
The bout versus Bradley would cap more than 20 years of Pacquiao's boxing career which stands at 57-6-2, the last two losses being in the hands of retired boxer Floyd Mayweather and Mexican boxer Juan Manuel Marquez.
Bradley is the current WBO welterweight champion because of Pacquiao's loss to Mayweather in the "Fight of the Century" in May. Bradley's fight record is 31-1-1, with his loss in the hands of Pacquiao via a knockout also at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
However, like Mayweather who has been hounded by coming-out-of-retirement speculations, boxing observers speculate Pacquiao could still fight Terence Crawford in November 2016.