Pacquiao nagpatali pa sa Top Rank ni Arum

MANILA, Philippines - Tatagal pa ng hanggang Disyembre 31, 2016 ang kontrata ni Manny Pacquiao sa Top Rank Promotions ni Bob Arum.

Inihayag kahapon ni Arum ang pagpayag ng Filipino world eight-division champion sa inialok niyang contract extension.

“We are pleased that together with our partners at HBO we will continue presenting to the public fights of the great Manny Pacquiao through the end of 2016,” wika ni Arum.

Inaasahang apat na laban ang gagawin ng 35-anyos na si Pacquiao para sa Top Rank hanggang sa Disyembre ng 2016.

Matapos mabawi ang kanyang World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown kay Timothy Bradley, Jr. noong Abril ay plano ni Arum na ilaban si Pacquiao sa Nobyembre sa Macau, China.

Ilan sa mga ikinukunsidera ni Arum na itapat kay Pacquiao ay sina Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez at Russian Ruslan Provodnikov.

“These guys are like family to me,” ani Arum. “We had discussed this for a while and I was always sure it would get done. Now that it’s been signed and is formally signed, it puts a wrap on it and it feels good to know we’ll be together for another two years.”

Kung hindi papayag ang 40-anyos na si Marquez na muling labanan si Pacquiao sa pang-limang sunod na pagkakataon ay ang 29-anyos na si Provodnikov ang kanyang kakausapin.

Sina Pacquiao at Provodnikov, ang WBO light welterweight titlist, ay nagsasanay sa ilalim ni chief trainer Freddie Roach.

Bukas naman ang pintuan ni Arum para sa pag-aayos ng mega fight nina Pacquiao at Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

“I’m not going to worry about something I can’t bring to bear,” ani Arum sa potensyal na Pacquiao-Mayweather fight. “We want to fight him and we’re willing to discuss it at any point. There are two ways to go here. One is to do a Mayweather fight with both HBO and Showtime involved, as they did with Lewis-Tyson, as I understand Mayweather is under contract to Showtime through 2015. The companies could come together and put on the show.”

“Or, the other alternative is, if Floyd wants to fight Manny in 2016, he could return to HBO and we could do it there,” dagdag pa ng 82-anyos na promoter.