The countdown to Pacquiao-Bradley III, Manny Pacquiao's last fight to end his historic boxing career, is officially on its way.
According to Boxing Scene, the former eight-division champ Pacquiao will fight for what could be the last time in his Hall of Fame-bound career on April 9 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. It has been 21 years since he turned pro in 1995.
"The deal is in place," promoter Bob Arum told the site. "Manny still has to announce it, which should come (soon)."
It has been two years after their April 2014 rematch, where Pacquiao won via a unanimous decision and regained his welterweight title. He avenged a totally questionable loss to Bradley in their June 2012 fight.
This is going to be Pacquiao's first (and probably the last) ring appearance after losing a unanimous decision to Floyd Mayweather in their most anticipated but really disappointing super fight in May 2015, where he had reportedly suffered a shoulder injury prior to their fight.
On the other hand, the public opinion on social media about the upcoming bout was really negative since neither of their first two fights was competitive nor memorable, as reported by ESPN.
Arum believes that Bradley is now a different fighter compared to what he was during the first two fights with Pacquiao. He is now working with trainer Teddy Atlas.
Bradley let go of Joel Diaz, his career-long trainer, and convinced Atlas to take over his training. Bradley looked really sharp in their first fight together in a title defense against Brandon Rios who suffered a ninth round knockout on Nov. 7, 2015. Rios announced his retirement after the fight.
Atlas said that he has already analyzed the videos of the first two Pacquiao-Bradley fights although Bradley has yet to confirm if the fight is official.
Meanwhile, although the papers are being sent to both camps, Arum said that he has deals with both boxers and he closed the deal with Pacquiao on Tuesday by sending him a $2 million advance against $20 million confirmed purse.
