Pacquiao eyes Dubai for next fight
Manny Pacquiao
MANILA, Philippines — American promoter Bob Arum has expressed serious doubts on Manny Pacquiao being able to stage a fight in the Philippines later this year or anytime soon.
Prospects of the Philippine peso falling to 52:1 to the US dollar, according to Arum, will make it doubly hard for Pacquiao to lure Jeff Horn to fight him on Philippine soil.
Pacquiao said he was offering the reigning WBO welterweight champion from Australia a staggering $3 million to come to the Philippines for the rematch either in December or very early next year.
“He wants to fight in the Philippines and with the peso being 52 to the dollar, how the hell is everybody going to get paid, let alone him,” Arum told www.boxingscene.com.
Bob Arum
Arum said the Department of Tourism in the Philippines had said, “They’ll do everything to help promote the fight (in the Philippines) except put up the money.”
A source said Pacquiao is working on doing a fight in Dubai, and the 38-year-old senator might fly to the United Arab Emirates this month to see if there’s real money on the UAE table.
Pacquiao is not running away from a rematch with Horn. But the former wants the fight held outside of Brisbane, whether it’s in the Philippines or any neutral ground.
Pacquiao is confident that he will beat Horn in a rematch.
The source said the offer from Dubai remains, and Amir Khan remains a possible opponent – if not Horn for the anticipated rematch.
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