By Mark Vester
WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao is on the campaign trail. Pacquiao is campaigning to land a seat in the Philippine Congress. The elections are scheduled for May 10. Nine-days prior to the elections, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Shane Mosley will clash at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The biggest fight in boxing would pit Pacquiao against the winner of Mayweather-Mosley.
Mayweather is the favorite to beat Mosley, with Pacquiao's own trainer Freddie Roach backing him to win a unanimous decision. Pacquiao was asked by a reporter if he thinks a fight with Mayweather could happen - should Mayweather win on Saturday - and Pacquiao wins the election. The Filipino fighter gave his answer, and said there is a "big possibility" the fight will happen.
“There’s that big possibility. My mother wants me to retire from boxing; it’s 50-50 at this point," Pacquiao said during an interview in Manila.
While his mother is pushing him to retire, Pacquiao says a fight with Mayweather would probably be his last before retirement.
The fight was in talks earlier this year. The negotiations crumbled over the issue of random Olympic-style drug testing. Pacquiao's trainer Roach had recently said in several interviews that he was pretty sure the two sides would reach an agreement on the drug testing issue.
If Pacquiao wins the election, Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, expects him to return to the ring in November. If Pacquiao loses the election, a return would happen in September.
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