Bob Arum is telling Manny Pacquiao to forget about an April tuneup fight and just prepare for a fifth fight with Juan Manuel Marquez in September.
?That (April fight) is unnecessary,? Arum told the Bulletin from New York yesterday.
Pacquiao?s adviser Mike Koncz has been working to stage a fight either on April 13 or the week after in three exotic locales: Singapore, Macau or Dubai.
The problem is that it is unlikely that one of these cities will be readily available in such short a time and Arum said he has counted out Singapore and Macau as alternatives.
Arum said he would rather see Pacquiao get examined by experts at the Cleveland Clinic, a world-renowned brain center in Las Vegas, while he is resting ?to make everybody, including himself at ease.?
Pacquiao suffered a brutal sixth-round knockout to Marquez last year and calls for the Filipino to hang up his gloves began to snowball owing to the savage way the Mexican won the thrilling match at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao was cleared after a CT Scan hours after the fight and was given a clean bill of health several days after in Manila following an MRI.
But Arum believes Pacquiao is going to make everybody feel comfortable once he gets himself admitted for a routine examination at the Cleveland Clinic.
?He can do it after the (May) elections there,? suggested Arum, referring to the local elections scheduled May 13.
Pacquiao is seeking reelection unopposed as Sarangani congressman, while his wife Jinkee is running as the province?s vice-governor and his brother Rogelio is gunning for a congress seat in the first district of South Cotabato.
Arum said that it would be better for Pacquiao to make the most out of the hiatus by preparing hard and for Top Rank to use the time to promote the September showdown.
?To make it even bigger,? said the 81-year-old Arum.
Although Pacquiao had experienced inactivity in the past, having rested for eight months in between the Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito fights in 2011, the time between the fourth Marquez fight and the planned fifth duel in September would leave him inactive for nine months.
