The comeback fight of Manny Pacquiao next year has a venue: the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The choice of opponent and the exact date will follow, Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum said yesterday when told that Pacquiao underwent an MRI Monday night to determine the progress of the torn right rotator cuff that he injured when he fought Floyd Mayweather last May in Las Vegas.
?I have no timetable until I speak to his doctor,? said the Top Rank boss, sounding thrilled that a reading of Pacquiao?s official MRI reading at Cardinal Santos Hospital should be arriving in the US anytime soon.
image: http://www.mb.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/vxc3-238×300.jpg
Manny Pacquiao undergoes an MRI at the Cardinal Santos Hospital. (Nick Giongco)
Pacquiao underwent an operation four days after the Mayweather defeat and has been forced to sit it out the rest of the year owing to the injury.
The earliest Pacquiao can return to the ring is late February but signs point to the fighting congressman making his ring appearance sometime in the first two weeks of April.
British punchers Amir Khan and Kell Brook, American Terence Crawford, Argentine Lucas Matthysse and even Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez are being eyed as foes.
But Khan seems to be the frontrunner although Arum insists he has been in constant touch with representatives of the other candidates.
?After I talk to them, I will present everything to Manny,? said Arum, who has the 36-year-old Pacquiao under contract until the end of 2016.
But while Pacquiao is looking forward to his 13th fight at the MGM Grand stretching back to his US debut in June 2001, he has floated the idea of showcasing his wares on local soil.
