Arum: If Pacquiao is Outstanding, He'll Want To Continue Fighting

By Edward Chaykovsky

Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum has a very strong feeling that we won't see the last of Manny Pacquiao on April 9th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao will face Timothy Bradley in a trilogy bout. The Filipino star has promised to retire following that contest. Bradley won a controversial twelve round decision when they met in 2012, and then Pacquiao evened things up with a decision win over twelve in their 2014 rematch.

Pacquiao is running for a senate seat in the Philippines and wants to focus on a full-time political career. Based on the recent polls, Pacquiao has a very good shot of winning in the upcoming elections.

With over 50-years in the boxing business, Arum has personally been associated with a large quantity of fighters who retired and eventually came back. Most recently, Brandon Rios retired last November in the aftermath of his knockout loss to Bradley. After the post-fight press conference was over, Rios told Arum that he changed his mind and planned to fight again.

“He says this is his last fight. You can take that with a grain of salt, though. I think he believes it’s going to be his last fight. But I’m not saying it’s his last fight. This isn’t my first rodeo. I’ve had a lot of fighters tell me this is their last fight and six months later they’re back in the ring. I had a fighter who retired at a press conference and half an hour later he unretired," Arum told scribe Gareth Davies.

“I have an instinct with all of them. These top fighters have a hard time giving it up, and if Manny’s performance is an outstanding one against Bradley, he’ll want to continue. Sugar Ray wanted to continue. George Foreman after he knocked out Michael Moorer wanted to continue. How many times has Floyd Mayweather retired? It sounds great when they say they want to retire. And it’s not just the money. They miss the limelight. There’s nothing like the adrenalin and all the attention you get and all the press that surrounds you. Then you go into the ring and all the eyes are on you.”