Pacquiao to fight Timothy Bradley in April

Manny Pacquiao will take on American Timothy Bradley for a third time in April, in what could be a potential swansong to the Filipino's career.

Pacquiao, 37, and Bradley, 32, will meet on April 9 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, the venue for their two previous encounters.

Bradley controversially beat Pacquiao when they first met in 2012 but the Filipino gained revenge in their 2014 re-match, scoring a unanimous decision win to regain the WBO welterweight title.

April's bout will be Pacquiao's first since he lost a unanimous decision to unbeaten American Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the so-called "Fight of the Century" in Las Vegas seven months ago.

Pacquiao, the former eight-division world champion with a 57-6-2 record including 38 knockouts, was hampered by a torn rotator cuff against Mayweather before undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder just four days later.

He had been expected to retire, with little left to prove after achieving his long-stated goal of getting in the ring with Mayweather, but then said in October that he would return for one more fight in 2016.

According to Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum, the Filipino could well have additional bouts in his sights before he finally decides to call time on his career.

"I don't want to say that (it's his last fight)," Arum told Reuters.

"I'm not going to sell it as that because I don't want everybody to say, 'Hey, it's his last fight, come and see it!' and then it turns out that it's not his last fight.

Bradley, a two-time WBO welterweight champion, holds a 33-1-1 record which includes 13 knockouts.