Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao will retire from the sport on the back of a globetrotting final year, according to long-time promoter and Top Rank supremo Bob Arum. The 38 year-old is currently finalizing a deal to face Australian Jeff Horn in what Arum hopes will be the first of four bouts in 2017 - which will culminate in a massive in-house clash with Terence Crawford. "We plan to have Manny fight four times this year,” Arum explained. “There’s an offer to fight in Russia in July, another offer in Europe for September and in the U.S. against (super-lightweight king) Terence Crawford in November or December.
Pacquiao was due to step away from the ring after a one-sided win over Timothy Bradley in April 2016 but swiftly made a u-turn on his decision and duly defeated Jessie Vargas to reclaim the world welterweight title. Horn steps up to the plate from relative obscurity to be given a chance against one of the best fighters of the last generation, with a date already in the pipeline for April 22.
As far as a fight in Russia is concerned, Konstantin Ponomarev, Ruslan Provodnikov and David Avanesyan are just three of the names that could be considered by Arum for Pacquiao, whilst England in September could potentially be Kell Brook or Amir Khan. In regards to Crawford, the Omaha native should be ready to campaign at 147 pounds by that time and would challenge for Pacquiao’s belt, provided the Filipino Senator remains undefeated.
