Manny Pacquiao's return possibly imminent, might happen in the U.S.

Back to fighting form

Legendary boxing promoter Bob Arum has said that Manny Pacquiao, who is managed by his agency Top Rank, might tentatively return to the ring in early 2016. Arum stated,"We're looking at the first 3½ months of the year," Arum said. "We played around with having Manny fight in the Middle East. But if you do a fight in the Middle East, you lose half the pay per view. And the people we were talking to couldn't guarantee the live gate would make up for the loss on the pay per view, so it's not going to happen there.”

Arum went on to say, “We'll look to do it in the States. But you have to be careful with the date. You don't want to go head-to-head with the (NCAA basketball) Final Four, so maybe it's in late February or mid-April after the tournament."

Pacquiao tore his right rotator cuff prior to his monumental fight against Floyd Mayweather, but still fought in a losing effort. He is convalescing from surgery and is apparently recovering well, as evidenced by his participation in a basketball match in his home country of Philippines, just four months after the surgical repairment.

This has led to speculation if the Filippino congressman’s shoulder is as good as it was pre-injury, because an injury that grave normally takes up to a year to completely heal. The 36-year-old’s physical condition is also the highest priority for Bob Arum, who clearly stated, "He's doing a million things right now. But I'm not going to make a fight for him until he sees Dr. Neal ElAttrache. ElAttrache said he won't clear him until there's an MRI.”

According to Arum’s statement to The Philippine Star, eight-division champion Pacquiao will most likely be welcomed back to the ring by his former sparring partner and World Boxing Council Silver welterweight champion Amir Khan. Both boxers train together under renowned coach Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym.

Pacquiao’s prospective opponent, Amir “King” Khan, is quite excited by the possibility of fighting the Filippino star, as told to News Day, “A Pacquiao fight is something I would love to have. I think it can happen. That would be a huge fight. With his fan base and my fan base, that's a huge international fight.”

Other possible opponents include International Boxing Federation welterweight titleholder Kell Brook, World Boxing Organization junior welterweight titlist Terence Crawford and WBC Silver super lightweight titleholder Lucas Matthysse.

Bob Arum was quick to re-emphasize that all of these eventualities hinged on Pacquiao’s health and recovery. Fans shouldn’t get their hopes up for a rematch with Floyd Mayweather, according to the 83-year-old promoter, because of the “boy who cried wolf” impression surrounding the former’s second and supposedly definite retirement.