Los Angeles—Veteran boxing promoter Bob Arum believes Manny Pacquiao should retire from the sport soon unless he can land a lucrative rematch with Floyd Mayweather.
Arum, who promoted Pacquiao during the Filipino icon’s golden years, told the World Boxing News website he wanted to see the 40-year-old hang up his gloves soon.
Pacquiao, who won a bruising 12-round battle with Keith Thurman to capture the WBA welterweight crown in July, has not scheduled his next fight.
But Arum said he believed Pacquiao, who turns 41 in December, would be risking lasting damage if he extends his career much further.
“Pacquiao, I promoted him for many, many years,” Arum told World Boxing News.
“He’s an exceptionally good human being, really a fine guy, extraordinarily charitable and a delight.
“But he’s (almost) 41-years-old. And if you’re 41 you can’t take punishment. You can’t take blows like he did in the Thurman fight.
“Sure, he won that fight—but he took a lot of punishment. That punishment is going to have a serious effect on how he lives the rest of is life.”
Arum, who earlier this year said he feared Pacquiao risked brain damage before his fight with Thurman, said however the Filipino should consider a rematch with Mayweather.
Mayweather, who is now retired, defeated Pacquiao in their 2015 “Fight of the Century” which largely failed to live up to the hype.
“If he gets Mayweather, do that fight and retire,” said Arum. “If he doesn’t get Mayweather he should retire. It’s not worth it for him to continue boxing.”
Meanwhile, Middleweight king Canelo Alvarez is to make a two-division jump in weight classes to take on Russia’s WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev, it was confirmed on Friday.
Alvarez, 29, announced the November 2 date in Las Vegas in a short post on Twitter. Online streaming service DAZN also confirmed the bout.
World Boxing Council title-holder Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs) has never fought at light heavyweight before.
Alvarez and Kovalev, 36, had been in negotiations earlier this year to fight in October, only for Kovalev to reject an offer from the Alvarez camp.
Alvarez meanwhile was stripped of his International Boxing Federation belt after refusing to accept a fight against mandatory challenger Sergey Derevyanchenko.
In comments to ESPN on Friday, Alvarez said he was relishing the challenge of facing the naturally bigger Kovalev, who retained his title with an 11th round knockout of Britain’s Anthony Yarde last month.
“The second phase of my career is continuing just as we had planned, and that’s why we are continuing to make great fights to enter into the history books of boxing,” Alvarez told ESPN. “That’s also why I’ve decided to jump two weight classes against one of the most feared champions of recent years.
“Kovalev is a dangerous puncher, and he’s naturally the bigger man, but that’s the kind of challenges and risks that I like to face.’’
