Arum still hoping Pacquiao continues fight career

Eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao has been elected senator of the Philippines, but that hasn't stopped his promoter Bob Arum from trying to get him back in the ring again.

Pacquiao, 37, announced his retirement from professional prizefighting after he defeated Timothy Bradley in April. But as fast rising names emerge from Arum's Top Rank stable such as Vasyl Lomachenko, the Hall of Fame promoter is still hoping he could lure the Filipino icon back into fighting.

"I have never had a fighter like Lomachenko. Whenever I tell him I have a date for him to fight, his first question is, 'Who is it?' I only want tough fights. Don't give me guys I am just going to walk through that don't present a challenge. I want guys who present a challenge.'," Arum tikd boxingscene.com.

"Let me tell you, by the way he is going, if Manny continues to fight, sometime next year I wouldn't hesitate to match Lomachenko against Pacquiao. That would be a hell of a fight."

Despite being hopeful of Pacquiao fighting again, Arum also realizes that his prized ward now has important duties outside the ring. According to Arum, a prospective match between Pacquiao and Lomachenko would depend if the Filipino actually decides to fight .

"If he will fight this year, then he will fight next year. We are thinking about him fighting in October if he wants to fight. Once I get the opponent that I am working on — we are working on opponents and once I get that, I will fly over to the Philippines and he will see if his schedule in the Senate allows him to train for a fight and participate in a fight," said Arum.

"I know he wants to continue fighting but the impediment is how labor intensive his work as a Filipino senator is and he is not going to really know that for another week or so. He was just sworn in as a senator." —JM Siasat/JST, GMA News