Bob Arum (L) and Manny Pacquiao. (Photo : Getty Images)
Top Rank boss Bob Arum recently told reporters that his chief cash cow, eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao, is set to retire after one final bout in April of next year. But will it be against the now retired pound-for-pound best boxer in the world Floyd Mayweather Jr.?
"I'm telling you what he told me last week at dinner in New York," said the 83-year-old American boxing promoter, as reported by ESPN's senior writer Dan Rafael. "Manny told me this fight on April 9 will be his last fight."
Arum revealed that he and Pacquiao had a "very serious" meeting and that the 36-year-old fighter told him that he wanted to "focus" more on politics as he hopes to be elected in the Philippine Senate next year.
Rafael noted that the election will happen in mid-May, and an early April fight will allow the former pound-for-pound king to be on the campaign trail for at least a month.
Mayweather, who defeated Pacquiao via a 12-round unanimous decision victory last May 2nd, "officially" retired from the sport on September 12 after he toyed Andre Berto in a not-so-exciting farewell performance at the MGM Grand Hotel.
While the Pac-Man had been vocal about his desire to have a rematch with the unbeaten American and a Yahoo Sports article earlier this month indicated that the camps of Mayweather and Pacquiao are trying to negotiate for a rematch next year, it seems far-fetched that a second fight between the two great warriors will ever happen.
For one, as Money's perpetual practice, Mayweather only schedules his first fight of the year during early May, which does not coincide with Pacquiao's April timetable.
Number two, it is also unclear whether the fans would really want to watch a rematch between them after their over-hyped "Fight of the Century" that left a lot of consumers dissatisfied about the result.
Lastly, it seems that Mayweather is already content about his current status, which makes it highly unlikely that he will choose to come back from retirement to face a smaller opponent that he already convincingly defeated and someone who did not give him the challenge he wanted.
But the pull of a 50-win record-breaking career and another multi-million dollar payday might make him change his mind.
