Bob Arum Says Manny Pacquiao Will Fight Again: Latest Comments, Reaction

The boxing world is going to see Manny Pacquiao back in the ring at least one more time, according to his promoter—Bob Arum.   

On Tuesday, the Top Rank CEO told the Guardian's Bryan Armen Graham that Pacquiao has "given us the go-ahead to shop for a venue and an opponent and see if we can do it on a particular date or dates."

Arum would later tell Dan Rafael of ESPN.com the fight will take place on either Oct. 29 or Nov. 5, and it will be the main event of an HBO pay-per-view in Las Vegas. There is no set opponent, but Arum told Rafael it would not be Adrien Broner.

"Manny wants to come back," said Arum, per Rafael, adding:

"

The problem is he can only come back if it doesn't interfere with his senate duties. We had penciled him in for Oct. 15 at Mandalay Bay but we were informed that is no longer possible because he has to spend that week leading up to Oct. 15 formulating the budget in the senate and doing the votes.

So he has to be there for that week, so that knocks out that week. He can't mess around with that. So now we're looking at Oct. 29 or Nov. 5. The question is building availability because we want to do the fight in Las Vegas.

"

Pacquiao released a statement on his Facebook page:

The 37-year-old Pacquiao had retired in April after defeating Timothy Bradley Jr. by unanimous decision.  

When he announced his retirement to cap off a 58-6-2 career with 38 knockouts, he wasn't sure it was the right decision, though, per Graham.

"My heart is 50-50," Pacquiao said. "I might enjoy my retired life, or I might want to come back. It's hard to say because I'm not there yet. But right now my decision is to retire."

Retired life included politics, as he won a Senate seat in his home country of the Philippines in May, which the Associated Press (via ESPN.com) speculated could lead to a run at the country's presidency.  

Per Graham, Arum said Pacquiao will begin his training in the Philippines because of his political responsibilities, though the promoter noted it is unclear when Pac-Man could leave the country for an extended period of time to prepare, which could make scheduling a fight tricky.

Williams noted Arum also had interest in either Terence Crawford or Danny Garcia taking the ring against Pacquiao. While the search for an opponent continues, boxing fans can at least take solace in knowing one of the best is set to make a comeback.