Pacquiao’s Adviser Gives Status, Comments on Adrien Broner

By Steve Kim

Manny Pacquiao has yet to make a decision as to who he will be facing in what could be his last ring appearance as a professional prizefigthter. He was scheduled to make this announcement on the night of December 11th but held off on making a decision.

Pacquiao’s adviser,  Mike Koncz, who just landed back in the United States after spending the past couple of months with the fighter, told BoxingScene.com on Wednesday night – “We’re just taking our time, he’s been engrossed in the Christmas holidays and he’s got a lot of employees, a lot of companies and a lot of commitments he’s got to make and we just came back from vacationing in Dubai, Greece and Israel. We got back on the 22nd of November and we’ve been very busy with the activities in the Philippines he has every Christmas, plus it was just his birthday.”

“We’re in no rush. Manny and I have sat down and we’ve discussed what we think is the best option for Manny. Before I head back on the 9th (of January) I will sit down with {Top Rank CEO) Bob (Arum). I think he’s flying in Christmas day and meet with him then or the following day. But there won’t be an announcement on that day either because I still have a lot of things to hammer out with Bob as to which opponent, purses and some other issues.”

Koncz makes it clear which date Pacquiao plans to return.

“We’re definitely going to fight on April 9th and more likely than not it will be at the new MGM Grand arena. I already told Bob we’ll definitely keep the date, the pay-per-view date because Manny approved that this past week and I told Bob that in a text message. Now we just got to work out the details of the final opponent and that’s it.”

Names such as Tim Bradley (who has already faced ‘the Pac Man’ twice), Amir Khan and Terence Crawford have been mentioned but a new name recently emerged, WBA junior welterweight champion Adrien Broner, who reportedly received a call from Koncz personally.

“I wish Adrien would not have made the comments he did to the media prematurely. But yes I did personally call him, spoke with him and we discussed the possibility of him facing Manny,” confirmed Koncz.

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com