Arum, who holds a live contract with Pacquiao until December 2016, has recently updated his shortlist of possible Pacquiao opponents which now includes Amir Khan, Terence Crawford and Timothy Bradley.
“We are pleased that together with our partners at HBO, we will continue presenting to the public fights of the great Manny Pacquiao through the end of 2016,” said Arum. “The partnership among Manny, Top Rank, MP Promotions and HBO has been a wonderful one for all parties and for the public and it’s great that it will continue for the years to come,” he added.
Among the three challengers, Bradley and Crawford are under contract with Arum’s Top Rank Promotions while Khan is being managed or promoted by Al Haymon.
While Arum has not removed Khan from his shortlist, there is a slim possibility that a Pacquiao-Khan fight talks will gain more traction because of Arum’s legal issues with Haymon.
Arum and Haymon are parties to an antitrust lawsuit involving Top Rank Promotions and Haymon’s Premidere Boxing Champion (PBC), a Haymon creation that reportedly bought substantial airtime from multiple networks which may have violated federal antitrust laws as well as the federal Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act.
While Bradley’s ninth TKO win against Rios last Saturday increased his chance of getting another lucrative fight with Pacquiao, it is possible that Arum may eventually ask Pacquiaio to pick Crawford instead of Bradley for his April 9 return fight.
One of the reasons why Arum would rather bet on Crawford is the fact that Bradley has suddenly become a big threat to Pacquiao based on his impressive performance against Rios which could be attributed to the able stewardship of Bradley’s new trainer Teddy Atlas.
If Bradley can duplicate his performance over Rios in a possible clash with Pacquiao on April 9, there is high probability that he will win over the retirement-bound Filipino boxing star.
Certainly Pacquiao wants a graceful exit after a 20-year pro career and to end his career with a win would be most fitting for the occasion.
Pacquiao’s best option is to pick Crawford for his last fight. Crawford is young and a great champion with unbeaten career record. But Pacquiao’s ring experience would be a key factor in ending his career on a positive note.
