Bob Arum reserves Oct. 15 for Manny Pacquiao

Bob Arum is hedging his bets on a Manny Pacquiao return as he makes an October 15th reservation at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas for his most popular fighter. Although this would suggest that Pacquiao is likely to fight again, Arum does admit to the LA Times that he hasn’t confirmed if Pacquiao’s new senatorial duties in the Philippines will prohibit him from fighting and that the reservation was “just to protect ourselves.”

Arum plans to travel to the Philippines after the Fourth of July to sit down and talk to Pacquiao about how his political assignments might affect him continuing a career in boxing.

If Pacquiao does indeed fight again, Terence Crawford would seem to be one likely candidate should he get past Viktor Postol next month. Of course, Pacquiao’s trusted advisor Michael Koncz denies that Crawford is in consideration for another Pacquiao fight, telling RingTV.com:

“We have not agreed to anything and if we fight again Crawford is not even a thought and never was.”

Luckily for you fine folks, Arum tells LA Times reporter Lance Pugmire that he’s been talking to Al Haymon about a possible fight between Pacquiao and Adrien Broner, with other sources saying that fight is close to being made. So whomever it may be, one person Pacquiao won’t be fighting is Floyd Mayweather Jr.

“Definitely not Mayweather. We’ve been told he’s not ready to fight yet,” Arum said. “Otherwise, of course, we’d consider that.”

The way the involved parties talk about both Pacquaio and Mayweather, it seems pretty clear that neither of them are decidedly through with the fight game.