Manny Pacquiao rejects April 14 fight with Alvarado

Manny Pacquiao has officially rejected a proposed bout with Mike Alvarado on April 14, as he doesn’t want to fight on the Jeff Horn vs Terence Crawford undercard in Las Vegas. The show will air on ESPN.

Pacquiao, 39, hasn’t fought since his controversial loss to Horn last summer in Australia, backing out of a proposed rematch in November due to his duties in the Philippines government.

Now, his media relations officer Aquiles Zonio says that the proposal was “an insult to (Pacquiao)”:

“No he’s not fighting Alvarado. He rejected Bob Arum’s offer to fight [in the] undercard of the Crawford-Horn fight. … It’s an insult to him. The world knew who won that dirty fight in Brisbane. It was the biggest broad daylight boxing heist.”

Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KO) can do this because, frankly, he can just sit and wait for the Horn-Crawford winner. He’d still be their biggest available fight under the Top Rank banner. He doesn’t need to go through a training camp and fight Mike Alvarado if he doesn’t want to, and if he feels insulted by an undercard offer after years as a main eventer, well, he’s probably got a point, especially considering how few in the public seem to really believe Horn beat him.

Super flyweight titleholder Jerwin Ancajas, a young Filipino champion often compared to Pacquiao, is reportedly in line to take the open slot on the televised undercard.