Manny Pacquiao, according to Bob Arum, won?t be ready to fight until November, and will most likely drop a mandated showdown with World Boxing Council super-featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez in September.
Arum was on vacation last week and did not entertain calls made from Manila. Yesterday the legendary boxing promoter was back on the line and told a Filipino scribe about the latest on Pacquiao.
“I have been told that Manny won?t be ready until late October. So we?re looking at a November fight,” Arum was quoted as saying.
Since Pacquiao stopped Mexico?s Jorge Solis last April 14 in San Antonio, Texas, the Filipino slugger has been busy with his political career. He?s in the thick of his campaign for a congressional seat in the May 14 elections.
The World Boxing Council has designated Pacquiao as the mandatory challenger to Marquez who dethroned fellow Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera last March. Verbally, the Marquez-Pacquiao fight has been set Sept. 15 in Las Vegas.
But if Pacquiao decides to return to the ring as late as November, Marquez might be forced to look for another opponent. The sturdy Mexican is turning 34 on Aug. 23, and cannot really afford to wait for a rematch with Pacquiao that long.
Arum said he will begin talks with the Barrera camp this month in the hope of landing a rematch with the former champion by November. Barrera is also aching to face Pacquiao, and avenge a bitter knockout loss in 2003.
Another fighter now being considered as Pacquiao?s next opponent is Joan Guzman, the undefeated 31-year-old from the Dominican Republic known as the Little Tyson. He fights Michael Katsidis in Anaheim, CA, on May 26.
Both Barrera and Guzman are under Golden Boy Promotions, which is at war with Arum?s Top Rank. There are reports, however, that Barrera has cut his ties with GBP after his bitter loss to Marquez.
Barrera is turning 34 next January and is also running out of time. His family, according to previous reports, is already pressuring him into retirement although a few weeks back he said he?s willing to face Pacquiao, only 28, one more time.
Others wanting to fight Pacquiao are Edwin Valero, the knockout specialist from Venezuela; Humberto Soto, the rising star who faces Bobby Pacquiao on June 9 in New York; and even Juan Diaz, the WBO/WBA lightweight champion.
