Philippines boxing hero Manny Pacquiao has said he has several more fights left in him after his promoter said he is likely to retire next year.
Pacquiao played down remarks by Bob Arum that he would fight once more, in 2016, before hanging up his gloves to run for his country’s Senate.
“I know better what is happening to my body,” Pacquiao said, reacting to Arum’s statement. “Just leave it alone. Better not to react to that,” he said.
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Arum was quoted on Thursday as saying that the 36-year-old Pacquiao, currently a member of the House of Representatives, wants to move up to a more powerful job in the Senate.
"I believe he'll take one more fight, then run for the Senate in the Philippines," Arum said.
Pacquiao, who has won eight world championships in different weight divisions, has previously parlayed his boxing fame into a career in entertainment and election as a congressman.
However he lost a unanimous decision to American Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas four months ago in a fight that Pacquiao fought with a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder.
Pacquiao has declined to say whether he will run for higher office in the 2016 national elections but has previously said he expects to fight again in April against an unnamed opponent.
There has been talk of Pacquiao taking on former training partner Amir Khan, with the UAE frequently suggested as a host venue.
In May, Arum said: “I just had a delegation in from Dubai trying to talk to me about a Manny Pacquiao fight some time early next year in Dubai.”
Khan, a former two-time light-welterweight world champion, has been trying to organise a fight in the UAE for some time, and the prominent Filipino, Pakistani and British population could make the event extremely popular among fans in the Emirates.
With Mayweather all but out of the question for Khan, a bout with Pacquiao looks the more likely option, a showdown that previously had been suggested if the fight with Mayweather had failed to materialise.
Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz had said Khan and Manny “would make for a very exciting fight and Manny would be more than happy to do it at Wembley Stadium. We are looking at that possibility and also Abu Dhabi”.
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