Manny Pacquiao plans to run for an "executive" office in the Philippines in 2013, putting Floyd Mayweather Jr. on notice that if he wants to agree to the richest fight in boxing history, he has about one year to do it, the New York Post reported Wednesday.
Pacquiao is a congressman in his native country and has plenty of free time to have an active boxing career. Winning an executive office could change that. It's similar to being a mayor or governor in the United States, Pacquiao said, and the added responsibility would make it hard to properly focus on two careers.
"I want to be an executive in 2013," Pacquiao said Tuesday. "It's hard to be an executive and do boxing."
That means if Pacquiao and Mayweather are to meet, it would have to be sometime next year.
"I don't really need that fight," Pacquiao insisted. "If it happens, good, because it's what the fans want. But I'm happy with what I've done in boxing."
A proposed bout between the two best pound-for-pound boxers has long been talked about without resolution. It was a topic of discussion again Tuesday when Pacquiao was in Manhattan to promote his Nov. 12 welterweight championship bout against Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas.
Mayweather faces Victor Ortiz on Sept. 17 at the MGM, a bout many speculate is a tuneup for Pacquiao. Ortiz, like Pacquiao, is a southpaw who can punch. Mayweather hasn't fought in 16 months and might need to shake off some rust.
"I'm thinking Floyd is preparing for our battle because he is fighting a southpaw," Pacquiao said.
Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KOs) doesn't need a tuneup, but he does want to settle unfinished business with Marquez. This will be the third fight between the two. Their first meeting in 2004 ended in a draw after Pacquiao dropped Marquez three times in the first round and the Mexican rallied to be the dominant fighter in the end. In 2008, Pacquiao earned a split decision, essentially winning that fight by one point.
Those fights were contested at 125 and 130 pounds. The third bout will be at a contracted 144 pounds for Pacquiao's WBO welterweight title.
Since fighting Marquez, Pacquiao has won seven straight bouts against some of boxing's best, including Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto and Shane Mosley.
Should Mayweather and Pacquiao emerge victorious, a showdown in the spring of 2012 seems doable.
"He's been talking a lot about Manny," Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach said of Mayweather. "Hopefully, he's trying to sell the fight because I want that fight as badly as everyone else because he's a challenge and I love a challenge. I'd like to get Mayweather and beat him and call it a (career for Pacquiao). I don't think there's anything else to prove."
