Manny Pacquiao happy to fight in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, and urges Floyd Mayweather Jr to stop giving promoters 'a hard time'

The Filipino southpaw, boxing’s only eight-division world champion, headlined a Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League event at Hamdan Sports Complex on Friday and Saturday

John McAuley
Sep 29, 2019
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In Dubai this weekend, boxing star Manny Pacquiao was busy mixing basketball with business.

The Filipino southpaw, boxing's only eight-division world champion, headlined a Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League event at Hamdan Sports Complex on Friday and Saturday, playing in two exhibition matches. He even top-scored in each, with impressive hauls of 35 and 42 points, respectively.

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Pacquiao spoke to The National about plans to fight in the UAE next year in what would be a milestone moment for boxing in the country.

Pacquiao’s three-bout contract with Premier Boxing Champions has one commitment left to run – he expects that to be April – leaving the WBA welterweight champion to then focus on a potential fight in the Emirates.

Pacquiao chatted about a possible Dubai debut around Expo 2020, whether Amir Khan would make the perfect opponent for that and the latest regarding a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

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