Manny Pacquiao will retire after his next fight as expected, his promoter Bob Arum says.
Pacquiao, 36, is preparing to run for a senate seat in his native Philippines. Already a congressman in the country, Pac-Man is looking to become a senator before eventually running for president.
Arum says Pacquiao told him of his plans when they met for dinner last week.
“We talked very seriously, and he said, ‘Bob, hopefully, by the middle of May I will have been elected senator in the Philippines, and at that point I cannot engage in boxing because I need to focus on the senate and I have to be in attendance,'” Arum said of his conversation with Pacquiao, via ESPN’s Dan Rafael.
“Manny told me this fight on April 9 will be his last fight.”
Pacquiao’s senate term would be for six years if he gets elected in May. He was hoping to schedule his fight in April so he would have a month to campaign for the senate seat.
Amir Khan is said to be one of the top possibilities as Pacquiao’s next opponent. Timothy Bradley, Juan Manuel Marquez and Terence Crawford have also been mentioned by Arum as possibilities.
