Pacquiao had supposedly stepped away from the ring following a second career victory over Timothy Bradley in the spring, only to announced his comeback little more than three months later.
The legendary Filipino is slated to return on November 5 in Las Vegas, with a list of Top Rank’s finest set to be whittled down for what will be Pacquiao’s 67th professional outing and second since losing to Mayweather in May 2015.
Terence Crawford, Danny Garcia, Jessie Vargas and Adrien Broner are all in contention for the Pacquiao outing which means any fight with Mayweather is off the menu until May of next year at the earliest.
Mayweather and Pacquiao smashed all records out of the ballpark with their first offering, which was not greatly received last year, as the ‘Pacman’ struggled to cope with ‘Money’ due to the constraints of a shoulder injury.
Successful surgery followed, and Pacquiao looked a million dollars against Bradley – leading to eyebrows being raised when the recently-elected Senator confirmed he would hang up his gloves. Luckily, that decision is now behind Pacquiao, who gets an opportunity this fall to audition for another shot at the pound for pound king.
Patents acquired by Mayweather in 2016 including TBE 50 and TMT 50 would suggest at least one more fight for this generation’s greatest combatant, who by his own admission is yet to get back into training since his last bout.
A September win over Andre Berto, low-key by Mayweather’s standards, doesn’t look likely to be the final chapter of a career spanning twenty years this year and Pacquiao will hope to get the call for a Las Vegas showdown with Floyd in May of 2017.
