Manny Pacquiao would have to start knocking out opponents again to attract more high profile fights in the twilight of his boxing career.

But boxing promoter Bob Arum has a logical explanation why the eight-division champion seemed to have lost the ability to stop fights since 2009.

“We haven’t seen him knocking people out like he did so spectacularly at one period of his career,” Arum admitted in Kevin Iole’s report to Yahoo Sports.

“[Although] he is scoring a lot of knockdowns. He had six knockdowns against [Chris] Algieri [in 2014] and he had Bradley on the deck twice in his last fight.”

Arum explained that Pacquiao has been fighting bigger and more skillful fighters since he stepped into the welterweight division in 2009.

Any elusive fighter will always find a way not to get knocked out and this is the typical match up that Pacquiao has been facing recently.

“It’s not that he’s not hitting hard. He is hitting hard, but opponents fighting him are more cautious,” said Arum.

“The ability to knock out a guy isn’t a one-way street. It’s also the opponent. If the opponent is looking to survive and not firing as many shots as he could, then it’s a lot more difficult to do. It’s not impossible, but it’s a hell of a lot harder when the opponent isn’t willing to open up.”

The last time Pacquiao stopped an opponent was when he halted Miguel Cotto in 12 rounds in 2009. That was seven years ago.

This November 5, Pacquiao will be stepping into the ring for the 67th time. He will square off against a younger and taller Mexican-American Jesse Vargas, who holds the WBO welterweight crown.

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