• Manny Pacquiao celebrates his split decision victory over Keith Thurman in their WBA welterweight title fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena, AFP
    Manny Pacquiao celebrates his split decision victory over Keith Thurman in their WBA welterweight title fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena, AFP
  • Manny Pacquiao hugs Keith Thurman after winning their welterweight title fight by split decision. AP Photo
    Manny Pacquiao hugs Keith Thurman after winning their welterweight title fight by split decision. AP Photo
  • Manny Pacquiao celebrates after defeating Keith Thurman by split decision. AP Photo
    Manny Pacquiao celebrates after defeating Keith Thurman by split decision. AP Photo
  • Freddie Roach gives his instructions to Manny Pacquiao between rounds. AP Photo
    Freddie Roach gives his instructions to Manny Pacquiao between rounds. AP Photo
  • Manny Pacquiao, right, and Keith Thurman exchange punches in the 10th round. AP Photo
    Manny Pacquiao, right, and Keith Thurman exchange punches in the 10th round. AP Photo
  • Keith Thurman, left, and Manny Pacquiao exchange punches in the eighth round. AP Photo
    Keith Thurman, left, and Manny Pacquiao exchange punches in the eighth round. AP Photo
  • Keith Thurman, right, throws a punch against Manny Pacquiao. AP Photo
    Keith Thurman, right, throws a punch against Manny Pacquiao. AP Photo
  • Manny Pacquiao lands a shot against Keith Thurman during their WBA welterweight bout at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Reuters
    Manny Pacquiao lands a shot against Keith Thurman during their WBA welterweight bout at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Reuters
  • Manny Pacquiao (R) connects with a punch on Keith Thurman during their WBA welterweight title fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena. AFP
    Manny Pacquiao (R) connects with a punch on Keith Thurman during their WBA welterweight title fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena. AFP
  • Manny Pacquiao, right, and Keith Thurman exchange punches in the fifth round. AP Photo
    Manny Pacquiao, right, and Keith Thurman exchange punches in the fifth round. AP Photo
  • Manny Pacquiao reacts after knocking down Keith Thurman in the first round. AP Photo
    Manny Pacquiao reacts after knocking down Keith Thurman in the first round. AP Photo
  • Manny Pacquiao, left, after kniocking down Keith Thurman in the first round. Reuters
    Manny Pacquiao, left, after kniocking down Keith Thurman in the first round. Reuters

Manny Pacquiao reveals he will fight unbeaten welterweight champion Errol Spence in Las Vegas


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Manny Pacquiao has revealed he will fight unbeaten welterweight world champion Errol Spence in Las Vegas in August.

The 42-year-old Philippine legend will be fighting for the first time since he beat Keith Thurman in July 2019 for the WBA welterweight title.

He revealed his plans with a Twitter post of a promotional poster for the bout captioned "Pacquiao v Spence, August 21, 2021, Las Vegas, Nevada".

The Athletic reported that Pacquiao had signed a deal for a bout to be available on Fox pay per view, and the venue was expected to be the MGM Grand.

But Pacquiao told The Athletic in an interview from the Philippines that he hoped the fight would be at Allegiant Stadium, the 70,000-seat stadium of the NFL's Las Vegas Raiders.

Pacquiao, a serving senator in the Philippines, told the US sports outlet that the fight "might be" his last. If so, he appears to want to go out with a bang.

"I love to challenge the top guy," the eight-division champion said.

Spence, the 31-year-old WBC and IBF champion, is 27-0 and coming off a dominant December victory over Danny Garcia - his first fight since surviving a near fatal rollover car accident.

Pacquiao, who owns a record of 62-7-2, had been planning a return to the ring for some time, but earlier this month the targeted opponent had appeared to be American Mikey Garcia.

Philippine media had said a July fight against Garcia was on the cards.

That came after Top Rank chief Bob Arum told BoxingScene.com that Pacquiao and Terence Crawford had an agreement in place for a June 5 bout in Abu Dhabi, but it had fallen apart because the people putting up the money missed the deadline.