Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum already has a timetable for Manny Pacquiao in 2010.
"I want Manny to fight three times next year," Arum told the Bulletin Tuesday from Las Vegas, nine days after the Filipino fighter solidified his claim as boxing's pound-for-pound king with a second-round knockout of Ricky Hatton of England.
With the way Pacquiao’s been manhandling even the toughest opponents with ease, the legendary Oscar De La Hoya included, Arum, who heads Top Rank Inc., believes the best is yet to come.
"Manny just keeps on improving each fight," said Arum, who plans to talk with Pacquiao regarding his next fight.
"Manny wants to fight in October and we'll be calling him later in the week to know what he wants to do next," said Arum, disclosing that he is constantly in touch with trainer Freddie Roach in relation to the pertinent matter of who to fight next.
Although nothing definite is going to get done in the coming weeks, Arum simply wants to hear Pacquiao’s pulse.
Two marquee matchups are scheduled to take place in June and July with the winners of these bouts gaining inside track on the Pacquiao lottery.
Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto faces Joshua Clottey of Ghana on June 13 at Madison Square Garden in New York, while Floyd Mayweather Jr. meets Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez on July 18 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Cotto – in the event he survives the New York-based Clottey – will be prioritized since he is also under the Top Rank banner like Pacquiao.
Arum has even floated the idea of staging Pacquiao-Cotto at the Garden in a certified box-office hit but made it clear that there are several options to consider.
"There's Edwin Valero...Shane Mosley," said Arum, without mentioning Mayweather Jr.
Arum said he is confident that Valero, the Venezuelan knockout king, will be licensed soon in the state of Nevada after having fought in Texas a few months ago.
Valero has a medical condition stemming from a motorcycle accident in Venezuela but has been cleared to fight almost everywhere except in all the other 50-plus US states, excluding Texas.
Pacquiao had announced early this year that he will hang up his gloves after two fights in 2009 so he can concentrate on helping the poor in Mindanao.
Pacquiao plans to run for congressman in the province of Sarangani, the hometown of his wife Jinkee in the 2010 national polls after being denied of the same post when he attempted to be elected in the first district of South Cotabato in 2007.
Meanwhile, Pacquiao returned to General Santos City Tuesday to a tumultuous welcome but he proceeded to Sarangani where he was again mobbed by well-wishers and political supporters.
Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/node/200513
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