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Pac-Man set for final bout

Manila - World boxing champion Manny Pacquiao is ready for one last professional fight after securing a seat in the Philippine Congress by a landslide, local media reported on Wednesday.

"I asked my mom, can I please fight one more time? She said 'okay'," Pacquiao was quoted as saying by the ABS-CBN news portal as he awaited formal confirmation of his election victory in the southern province of Sarangani.

US promoter Bob Arum, who flew to Sarangani to watch Pacquiao campaign for Monday's election, told the Manila Standard newspaper he had blocked out November 13 at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium and the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

"The cable television companies and satellite providers have put the date aside for us, so the table is set," said the flamboyant Top Rank boss.

The boxing world is eagerly awaiting an epic first match between Pacquiao, 31, and former champion Floyd Mayweather, 33, but Arum said other fighters could be lined up to fight his protege if the dream bout cannot happen.

Pacquiao defeated Ghana's Joshua Clottey to retain his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight belt in the United States in March, and has now won 12 consecutive fights, eight by knockout.

Last year, Pacquiao was listed by Forbes magazine as the world's sixth highest paid athlete, earning $40 million in the 12 months to June 2009.

He was among dozens of celebrities who ran for positions, ranging from president to town councilor, in national elections across the boxing-mad Philippines, one of Asia's most boisterous democracies.

Pacquiao, who was born dirt poor until he discovered his golden gloves, says he wants to give back to society by going into public service.

His mother Dionisia, who is in her 60s, has asked him to stop fighting but he and Mayweather are under pressure to settle the issue of who is the greatest welterweight of their generation - not to mention win the prize money.

Negotiations for a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight fell through earlier this year when the American insisted on Olympic-style random drug testing, which the Filipino rejected as too intrusive before a bout.
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