According to Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum, eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KOs), who just turned 39 years old, is finally ready to fight.
Pacquiao, through his longtime adviser Michael Koncz, reached out to Arum and said he' eager to get back in the ring.
“We are going to find him a date in April,” said Arum to the Manila Bulletin.
Pacquiao has been out of the ring since July, when he suffered a shocking twelve round decision loss to huge underdog Jeff Horn at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia.
There was a rematch clause, as Pacquiao wanted to reclaim his WBO welterweight title, and the second fight was booked for a date in November.
But the contest fell out, after Pacquiao cited conflicts with his work schedule as a senator in the Philippines.
Horn would instead fight Gary Corcoran earlier this month, and stopped him in the eleventh round.
As far as the exact date, Arum hopes to clear things up in the next two weeks - because the date is heavily dependent on Pacquiao's Senate schedule.
Arum wants Pacquiao to have a good fight, and then face the winner of Horn's mandatory fight with Terence Crawford - targeted for April 21 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
One thing is for sure, Pacquiao has no desire to fight on the undercard of that event - and wants to be in a solid fight.
“Manny doesn’t want to fight in an undercard and he wants an interesting fight (when he returns),” Arum said.
As BoxingScene.com previously reported, Arum's company signed up IBF super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas - who Pacquiao represents.
Arum has big plans for the talented fighter and believes he could be the next superstar to come out of the Philippines.
“We signed him up for three fight in 2018 and if he does well, we will sign him up again for another three (in 2019),” said Arum. "We are going to make him a star."
