Now his longtime adviser Michael Koncz wants to be sure that Pacquiao trains during non session days in order to minimize training disruptions as he prepares for his next fight.
Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum had originally calendared Pacquiao’s next fight for June this year but Koncz balked because the senate would still be in session by then.
“The (Philippine) Senate will take a break starting mid-March and will resume sessions on May 2,” said Koncz, who was by Pacquiao’s side for the duration of his training in Manila for Pacquiao’s last fight against Jessie Vargas which the Philippine senator won via a unanimous decision.
“It was a demanding schedule because after his Senate work, he had to go to the gym and train,” Koncz added.
Arum is set to fly to Manila in the next few days to confer with Pacquiao about his proposal to have unbeaten Omaha native Terence Crawford as his next foe.
Meanwhile, Koncz said he has no problem with Pacquiao facing Crawford next but was insistent that his boss gets the usual $20 million guaranteed prize that Arum gave in many of Pacquiao’s previous fights.
“If it’s Crawford that Top Rank wants for Manny Pacquiao, then we’ll fight Crawford but we want a guarantee of $20-million,” said Pacquiao’s longtime adviser.
Crawford is fresh off an eighth round TKO win against John Molina last Dec. 10 at the CenturyLink Center, Omaha, Nebraska to bag his second tile in the 140 pounds light welterweight limit.
The 29-year-old Omaha native is unbeaten in 30 pro fights with 21 of those wins coming via knockout.
Pacquiao, who is coming off a unanimous decision win over Jessie Vargas last Nov. 5 at the Thomas & Mack Center, Paradise, Nevada, has yet to score a knockout win since 2009 when he scored a 12th round KO over Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico.
After his loss to Floyd Mayweather in May 2015, Pacquiao bounced back to score a unanimous decision win oven Timothy Bradley last year. Read more:
If a deal with Arum for the Crawford fight is finalized in the next few weeks based on Koncz April proposed fight, Pacquiao needs to train early for the usual eight-week training camp.
It would be different from Pacquiao’s last training because this time he will train while the senate isn’t in session.
