WBA "regular" welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao is making it very clear that nobody is authorized to negotiate a fight on his behalf.
Last weekend in Malaysia, Pacquiao (60-7-2, 39 KOs) made a furious return to the ring - after a one year layoff.
He overwhelmed Lucas Matthysse for a seventh round knockout. It was Pacquiao's first stoppage win since November of 2009, when he put away Miguel Cotto in the twelfth round.
Pacquiao dropped Matthtssye in third, fifth and seventh, before the fight was waved off.
It was his first bout since losing a controversial twelve round unanimous decision to Jeff Horn, in July 2017, at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia.
Prior to the fight, Pacquiao had stated in several interviews that he was a promotional free agent - and no longer being handled by longtime promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank.
Arum recently stated to BoxingScene.com, that he retains "certain rights" in connection to Pacquiao.
But the Filipino star took to social media to make his free agent status known to everyone.
"I, through MP Promotions, will be handling any and all negotiations for my next fight. Nobody is authorized to speak on my behalf. You know my number, call me," Pacquiao stated.
The card with Matthysse was personally promoted by Pacquiao's MP Promotions banner.
He plans to self-promote his next fight as well.
Prior to his last contest, Arum warned Pacquiao about being his own promoter.
“Oscar (De La Hoya) did it for just a couple of fights, Mayweather did it a little longer, but Oscar had a whole group including (Richard) Schaefer in backing him. When (De La Hoya) was a fighter, he didn’t attend to business, you know. He was a fighter and the fights were promoted in the name of Golden Boy at the end, but it wasn’t Oscar really promoting it. Now Manny, because he is Manny, he wants to do everything and that’s not good," Arum told The Manila Times.
“No fighter can do both. Mayweather didn’t do both. Mayweather had (Al) Haymon and other people handling the finances and details of the promotion. Manny is trying to do everything and that’s impossible. I mean it is great that he is a nice guy, but that’s not okay when you are doing business."