By Edward Chaykovsky
The retirement of Manny Pacquiao could be very short-lived. This past April, Pacquiao announced his retirement from the sport after winning a twelve round unanimous decision over Timothy Bradley in their trilogy bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao's main motivation to retire was to pursue a full-time career in politics back home in the Philippines.
The former eight division champion (58-5-2, 38KOs) continued to climb the political ladder last month after securing a seat in the Filipino senate.
Last week, Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank revealed to BoxingScene.com that he was holding an October date in Las Vegas for a the potential return of the Filipino star. A working date of October 15th at the Mandalay Bay has been reserved.
Arum also named former four division world champion Adrien Broner as a potential opponent. Broner also fought in April when he stopped Ashley Theophane in nine rounds.
Arum has had a few conversations with his fighter, and Pacquiao is very interested in fighting again in the fall - but so far he is not fully sure if a tough training camp will create work-related conflicts with his duties as a senator. In the event Pacquaio is able to work out the details with his political obligations, Arum has the October date reserved - but there is nothing concrete on whether or not he can actually fight on the date.
“I’m not sure Manny is going to return, but I believe he wants to return,” Arum said to Yahoo Sports. “The question is, can he return and yet fulfill his duties as a senator in the Philippines? I don’t think even he knows that answer yet, because he’s just taken office. But I know for a fact, based on our conversations, that if he can, he is prepared to come back, and Broner is one guy we’re considering.”