Filipino boxing star Manny Pacquiao has publicly announced he will quit boxing if he wins as senator in the 2016 Philippine elections which means that his April 9th fight would be his last ring appearance if he is proclaimed senator.
Pacquiao has officially filed his certificate of candidacy last October to vie for one of the 12 senate seats that will be vacated by incumbent senators whose terms of office are expiring next year. But Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum may have other plans for the second-highest-paid athlete in the world with regards to his boxing career. Earlier Arum told Boxing Scene that Top Rank won’t highlight the fight as Pacquiao’s last fight because of the possibility that he will continue with his boxing career beyond his April 9 “farewell” fight. ?We won?t sell it as Manny?s final fight,? Hall-of-Fame promoter Bob Arum told BoxingScene.com. ?We won?t do that for the simple fact that ? anything could happen. Sure, it could very well be his last ever fight. But should he turn around one day and say he wants to fight again, we will look like a bunch of hucksters in selling the fight that way,” he said. ?I don?t want anyone accusing us of trying to tug at the heartstrings and claim this is it for Manny. Say for example, if Floyd Mayweather decides he wants to have one more fight, he?ll have to explain why he?s coming back after claiming he was done after the (Andre) Berto fight. We?re not going to put Manny in that position,? Arum added. While Pacquiao has made commitments to his supporters that he would retire if he wins a senate seat, he can make arrangement through his promoter to set his fights on dates when the senate isn’t in session. If he fails to win a senate seat, Pacquiao won’t have a problem with his supporters because he only promised to quit if he becomes a senator. A loss in the Senate contest could also mean that Pacquiao can continue fighting until the next senatorial election in 2019 unless Arum cuts his usual $20 million guaranteed purse. But there is no way Arum would reduce his guaranteed purse because Pacquiao remains marketable even after his loss to Timothy Bradley, Juan Manuel Marquez and most recently against Mayweather. As long as Pacquiao continues to receive his $20 million guaranteed purse and Arum makes money on future Pacquiao fights, their partnership will flourish until Pacquiao turns 40 when life begins for the Filipino boxing superstar.
