MANNY PACQUIAO has lined up a welterweight unification against Errol Spence Jr or fight against Mikey Garcia for his return to the ring in July.
The Filipino great has not fought since beating Keith Thurman for the WBA titlein July last year.
Manny Pacquiao wants to return to the ring in JulyCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Mikey Garcia and Errol Spence Jr are potential opponents for PacquiaoCredit: Getty Images – Getty
But the 41-year-old wants to unify his belt against IBF and WBC king Spence, who beat Shawn Porter in September but was involved in a horror car crash as month later.
Pacquiao has also named Garcia – who won his first fight at welterweight against Jessie Vargas last weekend – as another potential opponent to face in his comeback bout.
Asked who he wanted to face next, he told Filipino broadcaster ANC: “That’s Errol Spence and Garcia.”
Pacquiao continued: “My plan is to get back into the ring this coming July.
“Second or third week in July. Training should start in April, May, June. We have enough time.
“There’s a lot of possible opponents, like Mikey Garcia, Errol Spence or [Terence] Crawford and also there’s boxers from Canada and Mexico who want to fight with me.”
British promoter Eddie Hearn revealed he has a deal in place for Pacquiao to fight Garcia in a mega-money clash in Saudi Arabia, the scene where Anthony Joshua beat Andy Ruiz Jr in December.
But PacMan is signed to PBC, who have a contract for the welterweight champion to fight on Fox or Showtime pay-per-view.
Hearn works with sports streaming service DAZN in the US, meaning the broadcasting situation goes against Pacquiao’s current deal.
Spence – who beat Garcia last March – is also a PBC fighter, making the 147lb a far easier deal to make.
Pacquiao said on the pair: “My assessment is Spence is the kind of boxer who can move, a slugger. If we’re going to fight I need to focus on strategy, hand speed, footwork.
“Garcia has a different style than Errol Spence. Mikey Garcia is a brawler, aggressive. He’s got different techniques also, so we need to practice and apply on that fight.”
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Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
