By Norm Frauenheim-

It’s hard to know what to make of Manny Pacquiao’s decision to fight Jessie Vargas on November 5, other than to say he never retired.

Please, don’t call it a comeback. Pacquiao never went away. He ran for office. He won, changing his Filipino title from Congressman to Senator. He wrote some legislation and apparently a lot of checks.

He said this week he would continue to fight, in part because his Senate salary just wasn’t enough, despite the $100-plus million he reportedly collected for his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. just 15 months ago.

“Boxing is my main source of income,’’ Pacquiao said Wednesday in announcing he would fight Vargas at Las Vegas’ Thomas & Mack Arena. “I can’t rely on my salary as a public official. I’m helping the family of my wife and my own family, as well.

“Many people also come to me to ask for help and I just couldn’t ignore them.”

If it’s possible, Pacquiao gives away money faster than Mayweather spends it. At this rate, there’s a better chance Pacquiao will still be in the ring than there is Michael Phelps will be in the Olympic pool at the 2020 Tokyo Games. If nine figures can’t cover what Pacquiao spends over less than a year-and-a-half, what can?

It’s not clear how much he’ll earn against Vargas, the WBO’s welterweight champion. But it’s safe to say it won’t be the $20-to-25 million minimum Pacquiao collected over the last few years, including his last fight – a decision in April over Timothy Bradley in a second rematch.

That kind of money isn’t there any more, mostly because of a steep decline in pay-per-view numbers in the wake of the disappointing Mayweather-Pacquiao fight.

Before junior-welterweight Terence Crawford’s one-sided decision over Viktor Postol on July 23, Pacquaio promoter Bob Arum said that the Filipino understood that the business had changed. He said he could make a deal with the Senator.

“We’re not talking about those kind of crazy numbers,” Arum told the Los Angeles Times this week.

But those numbers are still a guessing game until Arum announces how and who will telecast the pay-per-view. It looks as if it won’t be HBO, the premium network that carried Pacquiao’s top-earning bouts. ESPN has been rumored. But at what price?

The decision to fight Vargas instead of the emerging Crawford appears to be a bet on a rematch with Mayweather, perhaps next May. Signs that Pacquiao would sidestep Crawford were apparent in the wake of Crawford’s blowout of Postol.

Crawford’s agile footwork and versatility surprised Postol trainer Freddie Roach, also Pacquiao’s trainer. It was evident that Crawford’s overall speed would be very hard to overcome, even at 140-pounds, perhaps Pacquiao’s ideal weight. Roach said as much.

A loss to Crawford would likely mean irrelevancy, if not a real retirement, for Pacquaio. Surely, it would badly damage any chance at a Mayweather rematch. Hence, Vargas, the safer choice, at 147 instead of 140.

But even that’s a risk. Mayweather has been mostly silent since he spent all that time talking about a big-money deal in a bout with the UFC’s Conor McGregor. There’ no indication that he is any more interested in a comeback than he was at the moment he formally announced his retirement after beating Andre Berto in September 2015.

Mayweather has said he might be interested if the money – his nickname and motivation – is right. He reportedly collected $240 million for Pacquiao. He had a $32-million guarantee for each of his bouts in a six-fight deal with Showtime.

Like Arum said, crazy numbers. But it’s also crazy to think Mayweather would ask for anything less than $32 million, even if he were interested. The guess – and that’s all it is – is that he will be. He’s still young enough. He’ll be 40 on Feb. 24. He retired at 49-0. Fifty-and-0 has to be a temptation.

The bigger question is whether there’s even an audience for an encore. The bout in May 2015 set a record for PPV buys at 4.4 million. The theory is that a rematch could do at least 1 million, meaning it would make money. But the ongoing decline only raises questions about whether anyone wants a sequel that would only remind everyone of the original.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Manny Pacquiao wil return to the rong onNovember 5th at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

“I couldn’t get a building, but we were finally able to secure Thomas & Mack Center,” said Bob Arum. “So I am doing the fight with my friend Steve Wynn [whose Wynn Resorts will serve as the host casino]. MGM really wanted to do the fight but they didn’t have a building. They did everything they could to free up a place for us but Nov. 5 didn’t work, but that is what worked for Manny.

“We are going to film Manny — if we can get into the senate — working as a senator during the day and then training at night. We’ll have a camera crew over in the Philippines. But then he will finish with the budget votes he has to work on around Oct. 15 and he will come to Los Angeles with [trainer] Freddie [Roach] and finish training.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Manny Pacquiao will end what would be about a seven month retirement with a fight that will take place on either October 29 or November 5.

“Manny wants to come back. The problem is he can only come back if it doesn’t interfere with his senate duties,” said Top Rank’s Bob Arum. “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.”

Arum said he is working with MGM executive Richard Sturm on the availability of its venues — the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Mandalay Bay Events Center and T-Mobile Arena — for those dates.

“Sturm is doing the research and seeing if he can move things around,” Arum said. “The MGM wants to do the fight and he’ll come back to us when he comes to a solution.”

Arum said he has been in regular touch with Michael Koncz, Pacquiao’s adviser, as they work through the date issues.

“Michael said Manny definitely wants to fight again. Not even a question,” Arum said. “We just have to get an appropriate date.”

“Manny’s primary concern and obligation is to fulfill his senatorial duties,” Koncz said. “But he just misses [boxing]. He misses the training. He misses being in the gym. You can see when he trains it’s like a stress reliever for him. His mood changes. It’s like he’s in happy land. So I am working with Bob and Manny is working closely with the senate president to make sure the dates are OK. We’re doing this properly.

“When Manny was a congressman we didn’t have to clear dates. Now we have to. He is taking his job in the senate seriously. He is not going to be absent, which is why we can’t do a fight Oct. 15 because of the senate dealing with the budget.”

While many believed Pacquiao and Mayweather would both return, Pacquiao will be the first to do so. In fact, Arum refused to promote the Bradley fight as Pacquiao’s finale, even though Pacquiao said leading up to the fight that he was going to retire.

“I would have been excoriated,” Arum said. “I knew this would happen. I’m not an idiot. I wasn’t going to say [the Bradley fight] was Manny’s last fight and have people say I sold the fight under false pretenses. I didn’t represent that so am I surprised by this? No. Not at all.”

Arum and Koncz said Pacquiao would train around his senate duties.

“He can handle it,” Arum said. “There is one week in October of intensive legislation. He’ll train that week at off hours and before that week at regular hours and then probably two weeks in Los Angeles, and then the last week in Vegas. It’s doable.”

Arum said he and Broner adviser Al Haymon — Arum’s longtime adversary with whom he recently settled a $100 million lawsuit — were able to work on the fight together and that they can do other fights as well, but that Broner (32-2, 24 KOs) was not realistic with his purse demands.

“I worked very, very hard with Al to make the Broner fight but Al was never able to bring Broner around to a realistic number,” Arum said. “He wanted what we haven’t paid anybody in a long time. Just a crazy number. In effect he wanted parity with Manny and Al agreed that he couldn’t do anything with him. The kid is crazy.”

“Broner is a decent fighter and it would be entertaining for the fans,” Koncz said. “But I lost respect for him because he outrageously outpriced himself. We even offered him an upside so if the pay-per-view sold really well he would make even more money. I’ve lost all respect for him as a person.

“So we’ll get another opponent for Manny to fight. I’m not sure who but we want a meaningful fight and an entertaining fight.”

By Bart Barry-

Saturday at MGM Grand in the first retirement match of his career and second rematch with California’s Timothy Bradley, Filipino welterweight Manny Pacquiao decisioned roundly Bradley by three fair scores of 116-110, an odd-looking tally representing both a Pacquiao pulldown in round 7 and a knuckleball knockdown in the ninth. The deserving man won. Little more can be said for the fare.

An emotional sendoff it was not. It was a luggery, a strained thing, an effort to aggrandize hoarse as Teddy Atlas’ voice. Too, there was promoter Bob Arum seated beside Jerry Jones, owner of the stadium where Pacquiao fought Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito in 2010, as if to put the lie squarely to the halfassery of promoting the match in front of them like Pacquiao’s last – or was Jones onhand to offer Arum his venue for Lomachenko-Walters?

Pacquiao fought Bradley the way he had for their 24 rounds that preceded Saturday’s belligerence: as a congressman vote-counter campaigning for a win. There was naught of the mania Pacquiao showed Erik Morales, naught of the rage he flashed at Juan Manuel Marquez. It was a politically correct effort by Pacquiao, sanitized, sportsmanlike, humane. Right down to the requisite spar-with-me-bro glove kisses at the open of each round.

Bradley wanted to win the right way more than he wanted to win, seeing chances to lead with his head as he so often did on his way to the majors and banishing the thought quickly as it arrived. Manny and Timmy are great buddies! They fought like it, too, much to the chagrin of the comparatively small number of us born-every-minute folks who purchased their fight.

Trainer Teddy Atlas convinced Bradley during their camp what the promotion somehow convinced the rest of us: Finding and blitzing a heavybag like Brandon Rios prepared a man for counterpunching Pacquiao. The only men who succeeded in counterpunching Pacquiao in his career, though, were the two master counterpunchers of the era, Marquez and Floyd Mayweather. Bradley, a volume puncher athletic enough to counterpunch b-level guys, was not going to win a match in which he was outworked anymore than Pacquiao had a chance of outsmarting Mayweather 11 months ago.

There was a spot in the first rounds of the match in which Bradley clearly knew Pacquiao was about to jab him, prepped himself to parry or slip, and got smitten anyway. When something that discouraging happens to a professional athlete his trainer can feed a third of MGM Grand with five loaves and two fish between rounds and it ain’t going to matter. Atlas spent a commentary career watching Pacquiao on video like the rest of us, no doubt thinking all the while if only he could teach someone with great reflexes to see Pacquiao’s triggers and tells the way Atlas did, historians would wear Atlas’ name on their lips for a generation. He got that guy with Bradley, and it mattered nothing at all.

Bradley’s best chance with Pacquiao was his first chance; Bradley was the wildcard in that fight, rhythmically unpredictable, flexibly awkward. It was a match in which either guy might have sprained an ankle careening past the other, and it just happened to be Bradley who did. Ever since then Pacquiao has been everything Bradley is – only much more so.

By the sixth round Saturday what became apparent was this: Only Marquez among all men who matched themselves against Pacquiao had the balls to see Pacquiao’s jabfeint-hopback-jabpounce and step directly into it, manifesting a faith in his physical genius that said, “One of us goes to sleep right now, and I don’t much care which.” Bradley saw Pacquiao’s signature move and tried to jab it or retreat from it or absorb and counter it. But not once in 108 minutes of standing across from Pacquiao did Bradley sellout the right hand Marquez-style. Wherever go one’s memories of Pacquiao, then, should follow Marquez – the two matched wonderfully and gave us so very much in their four fights.

Asked for Pacquiao’s legacy my thoughts go immediately here: 6-2-1 (3 KOs). That is Pacquiao’s record against prime versions of Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez. There is nothing any prizefighter has done in the last 25 years that is so impressive as that. No handicapping, no trickeration, no legerdemain, no bullshit: Pacquiao fought three first-ballot guys nine times. And most of that happened before SportsCenter even knew the Filipino’s name.

Pacquiao leaves the game, if he does, having amortized most of that goodwill, yes – despite what those whose salaries now rely primarily on Pacquiao revenue tell us during telecasts. Some of us have enriched him for woeful garbage like his matches with Shane Mosley, Brandon Rios and Chris Algieri. So be it. Historians will not either forgive Pacquiao’s effort against Mayweather with its submissive lack of urgency, even while they concede things might have been different before Floyd orchestrated a five-year delay (we will not forget how close they came to signing contracts in December 2009).

When Pacquiao’s matches happened against Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto, I cared very little. I care less now. The way Pacquiao unmanned Barrera, though, 2 1/2 years after Barrera undressed Naseem Hamed and 15 months after Barrera decisioned Erik Morales, the way Pacquiao made Morales make heroic choices to beat him 11 years ago, the way Pacquiao swarmed Marquez in 2008 till both men were covered in blood – those images form Pacquiao’s legacy for me.

Before his charge’s third fight with Pacquiao, Mexican trainer Nacho Beristain – actually the sort of mentor Teddy Atlas tells everyone Atlas is – described Pacquiao as “a wildcat.” A better image of the prime Pacquiao is not yet unearthed: Beaming maniacally round his mouthguard, banging his gloves together, blood on his trunks and gloves and beard, beseeching madness and violence from other men before slashing their faces open with weirdly angled punches thrown at the wrong moments of an unknowable beat . . .

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

By Norm Frauwnheim

LAS VEGAS – At a time when politics appear to be imitating boxing or vice-versa, there was an endorsement Wednesday for a politician from a fighter who will do more than just promise to punch his rival in a few days.

Donald Trump and Ted Cruz weren’t even there.

Too bad.

They might have learned something about decorum from Timothy Bradley and Manny Pacquiao.

Bradley gave Pacquiao a ringing endorsement for his run at another political office in the Philippines at the final news conference for their welterweight rematch Saturday night at the MGM Grand. Bradley got the office wrong.

“He deserves to become governor of the Philippines,’’ Bradley said.

Last anybody checked, Pacquiao, a current Congressman, is running for the Senate. The talk is that he hopes to be the Filipino president one day. Governor of the Philippines is not a title that exists, although maybe the World Boxing Association can create one. But you get the idea. Trump and Cruz wouldn’t endorse each other for dogcatcher. Instead, they look at each other like a dogcatcher might look at his shoes to see what he just stepped into.

But it looks as if Bradley and Pacquiao genuinely like each other. Before the news conference, they stood next to each other, talking and smiling. They posed for the cameras without the unblinking stare-down that is part ritual and part theater. They just looked like a couple of old comrades, happy at the chance to do some more business.

Bradley’s endorsement, of course, included a presumption that he’ll win Saturday night. He prefaced it by saying that he didn’t agree with the idea that Pacquiao has to win the fight to win votes for a seat in the Filipino Senate.

“I think that’s baloney,’’ said Bradley, who spoke for about 10 minutes and thanked juts about everyone, including his wide and manager, Monica, whom he called Super Woman.

Losing a fight, Bradley said, should have no impact on how Filipino’s looks at Pacquiao, an icon whose image took hit in February for controversial comments about gay sex.

“He’s truly a man who is going to do it right for the Philippines,’’ said Bradley, a 2-to-1 underdog in their third fight. “He’s a man of his word, a man for the Filipino people. He’ always shown that.’’

In his turn at the bully pulpit, Pacquiao sounded a lot like politician on a campaign. He talked about his faith and his humble roots.

“You know my life,’’ said Pacquiao, who says he will answer an opening bell for the last time Saturday night in an HBO pay-per-view bout. “I came from nothing. I slept in the streets. No food. I just drank water to survive.’’

He’s done more than survive. His ring earnings, including an estimated $150 million for his dull loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May, were unimaginable for a kid sleeping in cardboard box on the streets of Manila when he first began boxing. Much of that money has gone to help his fellow citizens, said Pacquiao, who is guaranteed $20 million Saturday. Bradley will get $4 million

“The money you pay for this boxing goes to thousands of poor people,’’ Pacquiao said.

His generosity and political career raise questions about whether he can afford to walk away from the pay-for-punches racket. He gives away much of what he banks, according to his promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank.

“I once said, and it’s still true, that the social system in the Philippines is called Manny Pacquiao,’’ Arum said.

Pacquiao’s political life creates complications. They were evident during the new conference. The Filipinos regulate how much TV time a political candidate gets. According to Arum, Pacquiao is limited to 120 minutes.

“It’s crazier than the Democrats and Republicans in this country,’’ said Arum, who is staging a No Trump Undercard featuring junior-welterweight Jose Ramirez, super-middleweight Gilberto Ramirez and featherweight Oscar Valdez before Pacquiao-Bradley.

So crazy, Arum said, that the Filipino agency assigned to regulate political campaigns was still arguing Wednesday whether a 12-round fight would be counted as 36 minutes, three for each round, or 48 minutes, which would account for the 60 seconds between each round.

There’s also a Trump-versus-Cruz -like intensity to the rivalry between the respective trainers, Teddy Atlas for Bradley and Freddie Roach for Pacquiao.

“Like the old-timers used to say,’’ Atlas said when he was introduced Wednesday, “it’s all over but the shooting.’’

Shooting is what almost happened many years ago when Roach and Atlas figured out they didn’t like each other, according to story by Lance Pugmire for the Los Angeles Times. In 1997, Michael Moorer, the IBF’s heavyweight champion, Atlas quit and he hired Roach.

Roach told Pugmire that he walked in on argument that Atlas and Moorer’s manager, John Davimos. Atlas punched Davimos, according to Roach. Then, Roach said, two men, each with a gun, pointed their weapons at him. Roach said he believed the men were Atlas’ associates. Roach said he was told to leave.

Apparently, a good governor wasn’t around.

LONDON (6 April) – Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach is sceptical about Manny Pacquiao hanging up his gloves following his rubber match with Timothy Bradley this weekend.

The Filipino superstar is tipped to call it a day and bring to an end a glittering fight career after his decisive showdown with American rival Bradley, live and exclusive on Premier Sports.

The eight-division world champion has political ambitions in his home country, as he runs for a seat in the Philippines senate, however, Roach believes his star pupil still has more to give to boxing but expects him to put on a great display if his journey is to end on Saturday night.

“I personally don’t know if this will be Manny’s last fight but he is training like it’s going to be his last fight. Manny has achieved so much in his boxing career and if this is going to be his swan song I know he wants to go out blazing with a spectacular performance,” said Roach.

“If the opportunity for a knockout presents itself during the fight, he’s going to go for it. He knows how to close the show and he wants this show closed with fireworks. He wants to finish the book on his boxing career with a spectacular ending.

“I do think Manny has more quality fights in him. His power, speed, work ethic are still superior to most others,” he said.

56-year-old Roach, who has worked with numerous world champions including the likes of Mike Tyson, Miguel Cotto and Oscar De la Hoya, ranks Pacquiao as the greatest he has trained.

“Manny is the greatest fighter I have ever worked with,” said Roach. “I have never seen another fighter accomplish so much. Forget the raw talent and drive to win, Manny was a great student who never rested on his laurels.

“He was a sponge who was always willing to learn new things. He challenged me to teach him new things. He made me a better trainer.

“For me, it’s been an experience unique to Manny. I wish I had a million fighters with as much drive and a willingness to learn new things,” he said.

Five-time world champion Bradley has been praised for his recent performances since switching trainers to Teddy Atlas and many expect the Californian to give Pacquiao the toughest test of what will be their trilogy this time around.

Roach, though, does not think there has been much change in Bradley’s style and expects him to revert to his old ways once he feels Pacquiao’s power.

“I don’t feel Bradley has changed that much. Sure, we will make some adjustments for the changes his new trainer implemented in the last fight, but as soon as Manny lands some meaningful punches, Bradley will revert back to his old style and that’s what we have to be prepared for. The log in the ocean is going to end up being a log in the buzz saw.”

To watch Pacquiao v Bradley 3 live and exclusive on Premier Sports for only £9.99 visit premiersports.com or call 0871 663 9000.

By Bart Barry-

Saturday at MGM Grand in a fight for the vacant WBO International (better than domestic, less than world) Welterweight belt Filipino Manny Pacquiao will make the first last match of his career against California’s Timothy Bradley. It will be the third time the men meet and Pacquiao’s first fight since disappointing himself, pay-per-viewers and his entire country against Floyd Mayweather in May. Expectations are low.

And so we return to the unpleasantness, the badfaith, the malcontentment. This fight will be preyed upon by what abiding discontent aficionados feel towards Pacquiao, and after his performance in the Fight to Save boxing there’s no chance casual fans want a part of it.

Cynicism all round, then, and what else is new? It’s deeper and uglier this time.

Those casual fans who felt hoodwinked by Pacquiao’s performance 11 months ago and then rightly resented talk of his shoulder afterwards, persons inexperienced in the hucksterism of our beloved sport, persons who didn’t know every loser in every fight has a plethora of excuses – the dishonorable ones reading us their list; the honorable ones having their trainers do it – had no intention of buying the second fight of their lives Saturday, but Pacquiao’s comments against homosexual acts, well, those ignited the same persons to encourage a boycott.

It’s not a legacy or a revenues booster, but bless Pacquiao for holding his line frankly, for resisting the media bullying that now passes for awareness or enlightenment or openmindedness or whatever the next euphemism is for herd animals collectively rising on their hindlegs to whinny disapproval via social media, outstanding birthplace of antisocial behavior. Pacquiao’s comments were not new or in any way different from previous comments he’s made, and they were far more honest than whatever halfassed apologies came later and the corporate distancing his business partners foisted on us, hating the sin and the sinner unless some revenue might yet be milked from the sinner and then hating only the sin.

Once more the foil in all this is Timothy Bradley, decent, gracious, genuine, grateful, and wholly unmarketable. Someone somewhere probably hoped the folks so theatrically offended by Pacquiao’s unwavering commentary would rally behind a friendly black Californian, husband in a mixed marriage, father to biracial children, but no: Those who consider being offended an intellectual feat rally against things, not for them.

Bradley did his part to get the rubber match: he looked vulnerable against secondrate competition till hiring a famous trainer then looked unstoppable against secondrate competition. Teddy Atlas has failed a bit as a ham, though, hasn’t he? There was supposed to be a battle of wits between Teddy and Coach Freddie, an antagonism onto which novelty seekers might latch, but it hasn’t come off. Atlas, finally, takes himself and his profession too seriously to make mirthful with Coach Freddie. There is no American interest in the sport of boxing anymore either, which must be considered a hindrance of sorts.

Pacquiao has chosen for his farewell tilt a far superior opponent to the guy Money May used for his failure of a goodbye in the fall, but it’s hard to imagine that will save this. Bradley, after all, is the unsympathetic guy who robbed Pacman in 2012.

That was an enduring example of the way misanthropes rally against things and not for them. Tired as they were of cheering for Pacquiao a large number of folks decided to project their rage with life on Bradley, just about the least-deserving target of mass hatred prizefighting has produced in a generation. It took Bradley to show some of us what a large number of despicable people populate our ranks, and no we haven’t forgotten.

Coincidentally, this was not Pacquiao’s fault. He thought he won the first match with Bradley, even if he knew he didn’t win its predecessor, his third match with Juan Manuel Marquez, but he wasn’t fractionally animated in the post-Bradley-fight press conference as his promoter Bob Arum – realizing, as Arum did, this decision would cool talk of a Mayweather megamatch for years. We forget that now for a couple reasons, the largest of which being what a dreadful thing the Mayweather match was when it did happen.

The other reason: Marquez knocked Pacquiao stiff six months after Pacquiao was robbed by Bradley. Those of us who watched from ringside as Pacquiao was conclusively outboxed in the second half of his third fight with Marquez and then made to miss continually by Bradley were not surprised Marquez got him – even if every person at ringside was jolted by how decisively Marquez took Pacquiao’s consciousness – and even less surprised how hopelessly Pacquiao fought Mayweather 2 1/2 years later.

Apparently Pacquiao beat Bradley in their rematch – after mis-scoring their first fight I was seated too far from the ring to see the fighters as more than circling electrons in a microscope, and I didn’t care enough to watch the tape – which got Pacquiao a shot at Chris Algieri, which somehow got Pacquiao a shot at Floyd Mayweather, which again went the way every aficionado knew it would even while some boxing writers did their promotional best to envision ways Pacquiao might win.

One hopes Saturday’s match is competitive as it should be, raising Bradley’s next purse while sending Pacquiao into his first retirement with dignity. It can’t possibly be worse than his last fight.

I’ll take Pacquiao, SD-12, in a match Bradley wins by two rounds.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

BOB ARUM: This is a very interesting promotion as far as I’m concerned. A lot of people are concentrating on the new and improved Tim Bradley. Manny Pacquiao with his right arm now totally repaired – he has had that torn rotator cuff since before the De La Hoya fight. A lot of athletes are able to perform well with a torn rotator cuff – a lot of pitchers in the major leagues are able to perform well with it. Obviously now that it’s repaired, it is at full strength. Freddie will tell you that Manny is hitting harder with the right hand – even harder than with the left hand, so he is now going to be a real two-handed fighter which is very interesting. I think Tim Bradley’s big advantage is that he is going in with a game plan. I don’t think he had much of a game plan in the first two fights but certainly Teddy has given him one. I am very excited for my “NoTrump Undercard” with the young Hispanics contenders and I think it is resonating tremendously, particularly with the Hispanic community. I’ve done dozens of radio interviews and television programs with the Hispanic media and there is a lot of excitement.

How are tickets selling?

BOB ARUM: The Ticket situation is good. It is about what it was last time that Manny fought Bradley. There are approximately 2,00 tickets left and a lot of those will go in the last week. They are selling at a very good clip so if we don’t sell out we will have at least 14,000 people in the arena on April 9. I am still optimistic that they will all be gone by fight night.

What is your aiming point for the pay-per-view?

BOB ARUM: I really think that we have a shot to go over 700,000. I really think that Manny and Bradley will do most of the numbers, but let me tell you that my Hispanic army is marching out there and we are going to do a tremendous number from people, aside from the Pacquiao-Bradley numbers, that want to see these Hispanic stars in very, very important fights. I am pretty confident that we will do over 700,000 with a little break here and there. Maybe if Trump opens his mouth a little bit more we can go over 800,000.

Do you think Bradley will be different for this fight? What has Freddie been telling you and what do you think it will it be?

MANNY PACQUIAO: Bradley has a new trainer for this fight and a new game plan and I am very excited for that because we will see more action in the ring in this fight.

In the first two fights he was avoiding your left hook. Will you use it more this fight or less?

MANNY PACQUIAO: Right now I have been working on my right hand and my right hook which is very good. My left hand is still good, but my right shoulder is healed and that is good, because I can use it with real power.

Freddie said it took you longer to get in shape for this fight. Is that because of the layoff or the shoulder?

MANNY PACQUIAO: We had a lot of time to exercise for this fight. We had a lot of time to train and all I can say is training camp was great and I am ready for the fight and everything is great.

Do you feel like the layoff has helped you?

MANNY PACQUIAO: That is one thing, it is good to have a long layoff in boxing – I feel fresh and new and I feel good now when I train every day. I really enjoyed this training camp.

You haven’t had a KO since 2009. Is that something that weighs on your mind or frustrates you? Or do you even think about it?

MANNY PACQUIAO: Yes, I am thinking about that. I have thinking about the last knockout that I had was in the Cotto fight and I believe the Margarito fight should have been stopped. It was a long time ago. I am thinking about it (the knockout) and that’s why I work hard. Right now it is a good thing that I had a layoff – I feel excited and fresh in my body and I will try hard for it in this fight.

Bob mentioned you’ve had a torn rotator cuff since the De La Hoya fight. Had you ever given consideration to having the surgery before since it has lingered for so long?

MANNY PACQUIAO: That fight was in 2008, so it was long ago. I still felt good and every time I rested the pain was gone.

Was it the worst in the Mayweather fight and psot-Mayweather?

MANNY PACQUIAO: Yes, in the fourth round. In the fourth round when I was throwing a lot of combinations. I hurt it coming off of one of the combinations.

It seems like you have been going back and forth regarding retirement. We know you have said you want to pursue your political career full time to assist your countrymen. Where do you stand on that right now?

MANNY PACQUIAO: After this fight I have already said that my mind is to focus on my job. If I win a Senate seat I have a big responsibility and I need to focus on that. I cannot say right now that I am going to retire. I don’t want to say that because I don’t know what the feeling is when you leave boxing. I will give it great thought when I return home.

So, you are going to have this fight, go back home and do your work and see what happens – and leave the door open?

MANNY PACQUIAO: My mind right now says to retire, but we don’t know.

Bob, have you spoken about this with Manny? What is your position?

BOB ARUM: Manny told me that he was going to retire after this fight, but I have been around this business for 50 years and a lot of fighters can’t walk away, so I am not advertising that this is going to be Manny’s last fight. It could be but then it may not be. He said he’s going back to run for Senate and if he becomes a Senator, he’ll have to decide whether to devote full time to the senate or he can work in a continuous boxing career. But again, that is going to have to be something that’s he’s going to have to decide. But one thing, for everyone on this line, I am not selling this fight as Manny’s last fight, so if he does come back after this fight – don’t say I deceived anyone.

Freddie, have you spoken about retirement with Manny following this fight? What is your position?

FREDDIE ROACH: We have talked about it a little bit. He told me he’s going to retire and I told him I think he still has some more fights left in him if he wants and he did ask me about training if he goes into the Olympics, if they let the pros in the Olympics and I said of course I will. That’s as far as we got. We didn’t talk about any fights after this. We are just concentrating on this fight right now.

Freddie, have you given any thought about not having Manny around any longer as a fighter?

FREDDIE ROACH: Of course, I will miss him. We have been together for a long time and I will go to all of his birthday parties in the Philippines and we will be friends for life.

Bob?

BOB ARUM: Well, I look back on it, working with Manny, but I have been at this for a long time. Fighters retire, but the life of boxing continues. If Manny does retire, I’ll concentrate on Terence Crawford, Jessie Vargas and Gilberto Ramirez and Oscar Valdez and Jose Ramirez, Jesse Hart and a whole host of other guys, and Nonito Donaire. So again, I will look back at it like when I promoted Muhammad Ali and George Foreman – that it has been a tremendous experience and I’m grateful for it but life goes on. One thing is for sure – I ain’t retiring. You are going to have me around for another 50 years.

Manny, do you think if you had the surgery earlier you would still be in the middle of this non-KO string?

MANNY PACQUIAO: I am not sure.

Freddie?

FREDDIE ROACH: I am not sure. He was young enough to get through the injury. We didn’t know it was a severe injury and we worked through it. The thing is when he moved to 147 and fighting against guys that when they went into the ring weighed 160, the thing is, it’s tougher against the bigger guys. He had a lot more knockouts at 140 and 135 of course but those guys were much smaller. I think that had more of an effect than the injury.

Do you expect Bradley to bang the shoulder early to see how healthy it really is?

FREDDIE ROACH: No because I think he would be wasting his time. He doesn’t have the injury right now. We were working on it and it has been 100% great for this training camp. The surgery went well and the rehab went well and Manny is 100% at this point.

Manny, you are in the political business, what do you think about the “NoTrump Undercard?”

MANNY PACQUIAO: All I know is that we have a good undercard.

Bob, have you heard from anyone in the Trump organization regarding the undercard?

BOB ARUM: I don’t take their calls.

Manny, in the two fights against Tim, which did you think you did better? The one you lost or the one you won?

MANNY PACQUIAO: I think the same. I believe the same, because I won both.

Which one were you happier with?

MANNY PACQUIAO: The one that I won.

Why that that one different or better?

MANNY PACQUIAO: The difference was throwing a lot more punches. To make sure I won every round to win the fight.

Do you believe it is important for you to win this fight to carry momentum into your election back home?

MANNY PACQUIAO: It is very important to get the win for my country and the people in the Philippines, but the most important thing is a win for my country and a win for my legacy in boxing.

Do you think a win will help you in the election?

MANNY PACQUIAO: Yes.

What do you think about professionals fighting in the Olympics?

BOB ARUM: The idea that you will allow professional boxers into the Olympics, at this short notice, is absolutely insane. The idea that Manny Pacquiao would face off with some 17 or 18 year old kid, who has no professional experience, is not only stupid, it’s dangerous. These people ought to have their heads examined. People say that professionals play basketball. That’s true, but in basketball you can dunk over somebody, but it’s not a hurt game. In boxing, if you put experienced pros in with rank amateurs there will be serious health consequences. I don’t understand why they are now raising this issue. It makes no sense to me.

On this short notice it seems extremely unlikely it will happen…

BOB ARUM: Absolutely – extremely unlikely. Andre Ward says he wants to go to the Olympics. Many Pacquiao says he wants to got to he Olympics. Are they going to fight 17 year old kids?

Manny, if this happens, would you consider fighting in the Olympics?

MANNY PACQUIAO: Yes, after this fight I am going back to the Philippines to do my job and if they allow me to fight in the Olympics – I am not going to say that I am going to fight or saying that I am not. I am not closing the door and I am not committing to it – I am thinking about it.

With the long layoff, did it make you realize that you don’t need boxing anymore in your life?

MANNY PACQUIAO: With the long layoff in boxing – I feel better right now – I feel fresh. A long layoff is a good thing because I was able to spend more time with my family and concentrate on helping the Philippine people.

Freddie, Teddy Atlas trains fighters to be more aggressive, how does that play to you?

FREDDIE ROACH: Well, if he will be more aggressive I will be happy for that. If his fighter fights a little harder we will fight back. Manny is ready for whatever he brings to the table. We see the adjustments he is trying to make but once Manny hits him, he will revert back to what he does best. I am not worried about Teddy Atlas, believe me.

In Closing…

MANNY PACQUIAO: Thank you everyone and all of the media and make sure you watch on April 9. There is going to be a lot of action in the ring and I am excited for that. Thanks you and God bless all.

BOB ARUM: I would like to make some observations. I really believe that this third fight between Manny and Timothy will be by far the best of the three fights. It will be very exciting and I believe that one way or another it is going to end in a knockout.

Also pay attention to the Arthur Abraham – Ramirez super middleweight world title fight. If Ramirez wins that fight, he will be the first Mexican to win a world title in a weight class as heavy as super middleweight and he will be one of the future stars not only in Mexico, but all over the world in boxing. Keep your eye on this kid, he’s 24, handsome, well spoken and fights well. If he wins this fight and becomes a champion, he will be a big star.

As will Oscar Valdez if he can get by Gradovich. Gradovich is a non-stop fighter and Valdez is a two-time Mexican Olympian and a real up and coming fighter.

Then there is my favorite, the farm worker. His parents came to this country to work in the fields. Jose Ramirez as a kid picked peppers in the fields at thirteen or fourteen years of age – he put himself through college, was a member of the U.S. Olympic boxing team – he fights his first ten round fight against Manny Perez, a very tough fighter from Denver. Jose is a kid to really focus on. He is a social activist. He is a spokesperson for the Latino Water Coalition, for immigration rights – he is a kid that’s going to make a difference.

I am very excited about this entire card on April 9. People are going to be tremendously entertained. I am really putting myself out on the line to say that it will be a complete night of boxing of the best that boxing has to offer.

*************************************

Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with MP Promotions and Tecate, the Manny Pacquiao – Tim Bradley high-stakes welterweight championship event will take place on Saturday, April 9, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. It will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT. The NoTrump pay-per-view undercard will feature World Boxing Organization (WBO) super middleweight world champion “King” ARTHUR ABRAHAM defending his title against undefeated No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger GILBERTO “Zurdo” RAMIREZ, undefeated No. 1 WBO featherweight contender and two-time Mexican Olympian ÓSCAR VALDEZ defending his NABO featherweight title against former International Boxing Federation (IBF) featherweight world champion EVGENY GRADOVICH and 2012 U.S. Olympian JOSE RAMÍREZ defending his World Boxing Council (WBC) Continental Americas super lightweight title against MANNY PEREZ. The Abraham vs. Ramirez world championship fight is co-promoted by Sauerland Event and Zapari Boxing Promotions.

Remaining Tickets to Pacquiao vs. Bradley are priced at $1,204, $804, $604, $404, $254 and $154, not including applicable service fees. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets are also available for purchase at mgmgrand.com or ticketmaster.com.

For fight updates go to www.toprank.com, www.hbo.com/boxing or www.mgmgrand.com on Facebook at facebook.com/trboxing, facebook.com/trboxeo or facebook.com/hboboxing, and on Twitter at twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo, or twitter.com/hboboxing. Use the Hashtag #PacBradley to join the conversation on Twitter.

By Norm Frauenheim-

There was a time when Manny Pacquiao was known for distractions as much as his power. It’s hard to tell whether that power will ever be back. But there are signs that the distractions are making a comeback.

They are there in angry tweets and the social-media outrage that have echoed for nearly two months in the wake of his comments about gay sex during a political stop in the Philippines.

They are there in his campaign for a step up in political class, from Congressman to Senator.

The tone is different. There is widespread condemnation instead of the familiar praise before his April 9 rematch with Timothy Bradley at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand in an HBO pay-per-view bout.

The inevitable questions are all about whether the potential distractions can have the same effect as a well-executed feint.

Pacquiao has heard them all before.

Maybe, that’s why he’s smiling the way he used to.

He was at his best within the ropes when there was a storm of distractions outside of them.

Don’t forget, Pacquiao was considering his first run for office when he stopped Erik Morales in a second rematch in December, 2006. He lost an election for a seat in the Filipino Congress in May 2007 and went on to beat Marco Antonio Barrera in their rematch that October.

In November 2009, he was thinking about his second run at a Congress when he scored a 12th-round TKO of Miguel Cotto in his last stoppage. He went on to to win the election in May, 2010 and then scored a punishing decision over Antonio Margarito that November.

Oh, yeah, there was also basketball, questions from tax authorities, acting, singing, women, gambling and who-knows-what all on an exhaustive laundry list of items, all with a better chance at beating Pacquiao than any opponent in those days.

Maybe, distractions are like sparring partners. Pacquiao needs them. Some fighters, perhaps the best, do. That, at least, was Bradley trainer Teddy Atlas’ suggestion in a conference call.

“He’s had distractions, that maybe you could call chaos,’’ said Atlas, who won’t let himself or Bradley get fooled by the distraction theory. “Definitely a lot of things swirling around him throughout most of his career.

“Whether it was politics, whether it was singing, whether it was some personal situations he was going through that everybody goes through. Whether it was religious thoughts and growth, so to speak. Whether it was all the pulls on him because he’s an iconic figure in his country, where he gets all the attention you could never get here for one fighter.

“He has always dealt with that. It’s never impacted him.”

It hasn’t, perhaps because the distraction theory doesn’t go far enough. Maybe, distractions are a source of strength. A reborn Pacquiao before his loss to Floyd Mayweather in May had the body language of a fighter nobody recognized any more. The old smile looked artificial, almost as if it was forced. He had to fight because so much money was at stake. But it was a joyless exhibition.

He was there, single-minded and yet also suffering an undisclosed shoulder injury that led to a dull performance. He didn’t have any fun and neither did anyone among a record-setting pay-per-view audience. There’s been a reported lack of buzz for the April 9 fight, and its fair to say that the disappointing May bout is the reason.

Yet, the fight is interesting on a couple of other levels, including the question about whether Pacquiao can resurrect the genuine enthusiasm he once had for a brutal craft that is at the very foundation of his political career.

For him, maybe, the distractions are part of a crazy show, a circus parade that ended with a Pacquiao knockout. Or, maybe, the ring has always been the one place he could control when chaos trapped him as a poor kid and the chaos his wealth bought when he got rich. But he embraced all of it. About that, there’s no maybe.

“I make the comparison to Floyd Mayweather,” Atlas said. “They said the same things about Floyd throughout his career.

‘You think this distraction is gonna bother him, Teddy?’ ‘No, because the last one didn’t. And the one before that didn’t. And the one before that didn’t.’

“Floyd was a guy who always had distractions, who always had stuff going on in his life that might distract somebody else. But at the end of the day, it did not distract him from what he was doing.

“I feel like Pacquiao is the same kind of person in that way.’’

If Atlas is right, the current distractions might make Pacquiao a dangerous fighter all over again

HBO Sports, widely acclaimed for its innovative and provocative boxing programming, examines the upcoming HBO Pay-Per-View® showdown between battle-tested rivals Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley when UNDER THE LIGHTS: PACQUIAO-BRADLEY debuts SATURDAY, APRIL 2 (11:05-11:20 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO.

Other HBO playdates: April 3 (9:00 a.m., 5:00 p.m.), 4 (5:50 a.m.), 5 (1:15 p.m.), 6 (noon, 11:15 p.m.), 7 (3:45 a.m.), 8 (7:45 p.m.) and 9 (5:30 p.m.)

HBO2 playdates: April 2 (1:25 a.m.), 4 (4:45 p.m.), 7 (3:00 p.m., 8:45 p.m.), 8 (12:15 a.m.) and 9 (11:00 a.m.)

The special will also be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO and HBO On Demand, and at hbo.com/boxing, as well as other new media platforms.

Hosted by HBO Boxing commentator Max Kellerman, UNDER THE LIGHTS: PACQUIAO-BRADLEY will feature a panel that includes two future Hall of Fame fighters and HBO Boxing analysts who have experience on the sport’s biggest stage: Roy Jones Jr., a four-division world champion, and Bernard Hopkins, who has held titles in two weight classes and became the oldest champion in the sport’s history in 2013. Also participating in the roundtable conversation will be Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s Hall of Fame trainer, who will weigh in on how the eight-division champ is preparing for the rubber match in this heated rivalry.

For more information, visit hbo.com/boxing; become a fan on Facebook at facebook.com/HBOBoxing; and follow on Twitter and Instagram at @HBOBoxing. Follow the conversation using #PacBradley.

“Pacquiao vs. Bradley” takes place Saturday, April 9 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00 p.m. (ET)/ 6:00 p.m. (PT).

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