Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, who stepped down last year to run for the presidency in his country, said on Tuesday he is considering holding an exhibition fight in Saudi Arabia next January.
The 43-year-old ex-world champion in six different categories will negotiate a fight against his former training partner, French Jabert Ziani in Riyadh.
“We will start negotiations,” Pacquiao, who had previously ruled out a return to professional boxing, said by phone from his home in General Santos as he prepared for a charity match for Ukraine against a well-known YouTuber.
He ended a 26-year career with a points loss to Cuban Yordenis Ogas in Las Vegas in August 2021, noting that the former senator from 2016 suffered a setback early in the year in the race for the country’s presidency.
Regarding his upcoming 6-round charity fight against the huge Da Kai Yu, a martial arts expert, on December 10 in Seoul, Pacquiao, who is following in the footsteps of boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr., said: “I will prepare as if I I’m going to fight a real fight.”
