Arum: Manny to fight again in February at the earliest

CEBU, Philippines – Filipino ring star Manny Pacquiao will return to the ring sooner than expected.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told Dan Rafael of ESPN.com that the eight-division world champion will fight again either in February or March but not later than the second week of April in Las Vegas with no confirmed venue.

"Manny will be fighting next year,"  Arum told Rafael. "I think everything will be good for him to fight by February. He can probably start training by the end of this year. We'll let the doctor tell us when. I thought maybe Manny would fight one or two more times, and when I said that, Manny corrected me. He said he wants to keep fighting."

Pacquiao is recovering extremely fast after undergoing surgery to repair a significant tear in his right rotator cuff he sustained while training for his superfight against Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in which he lost by unanimous decision last May 3 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao is now even playing basketball and had several rounds of target shooting when he visited Cebu a few weeks ago.

Initially, Pacquiao wants to make a comeback in April but Arum divulged that major changes are in place for his schedule next year as the fighting congressman from Sarangani Province plans to run for senator in the May 2016 polls.

"He's not going to run for re-election to congress. Instead, he's running for senate, and in the Philippines, the senate is a national election. So he wants to fight and then concentrate on the campaign. It's very important to him," said Arum in the same internet report. "I've spoken to Manny a couple of times [recently], and he is more interested in talking politics than boxing."

As to Pacquiao's next opponent, Arum said five high-profile names are being short-listed led by British weltweight star Amir Khan. The other contenders are Kell Brook, Terence Crawford, Lucas Matthysse, and Juan Manuel Marquez, the Mexican ring legend whom the Pacman fought four times already in the past. — EBV (FREEMAN)