Pacquiao to decide next opponent tomorrow

By Boxing News - 12/04/2015 - Comments

Manny PacquiaoBy Chris Williams: According to Manny Pacquiao’s long time promoter Bob Arum, he’ll be giving him the word on Friday who his next opponent will be on April 9th for his fight on HBO pay-per-view.

The fight is supposed to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the choices are three fighters picked by Arum for Pacquiao to supposedly select from. Those fighters are Terence Crawford, Tim Bradley and Amir Khan. Arum has already given Pacquiao a big hint about who he doesn’t want him to pick when he said recently that he hopes he won’t choose Khan.

If Pacquiao has been following the news lately, then he should know already how Arum feels about Khan. Pacquiao’s choice on Friday very well could be his final fight of his long 20-year-old pro career because he’s already said that he will be retiring if he gets elected into the senate in the Philippines.

It’s a full time job in the senate for Filipino politicians, so Pacquiao won’t have time to keep fighting. Presumably, Pacquiao has an idea of what his life will be life if/when he gets elected into the senate seat. It would be sad if Pacquiao decides he hates being a full-time politician and then wants out so he can continue his boxing career and life a more care free life without stress.

Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz said that Pacquiao will be making his decision on Friday. Hopefully, Koncz has helped Pacquiao with weighing the pros and cons of picking the right opponent of the gang of three – Crawford, Bradley and Khan – that Arum has selected for Pacquiao to choose from.

He’s absolutely positive we’ll have an answer by Friday,” Arum said to Dan Rafael at ESPN.com.

With Pacquiao coming off of a torn right rotator cuff injury from his last fight, I think there’s a good chance that Pacquiao will lose to anyone that he’s put in the ring with next year. I don’t think for a second that Pacquiao is going to go against Arum’s wishes by him selecting Khan.

It’s going to be Crawford all the way in my opinion, because that’s the guy that Arum and Top Rank really needs to be turned into a pay-per-view attraction in the worst way. With Pacquiao retiring, there’s going to be a huge empty void in Arum’s Top Rank stable in terms of a PPV attraction. The Pacquiao gravy train is going to be screeching to an abrupt stop after next April with no more big money PPV fights like before unless someone like Crawford can magically be turned into a PPV star by using Pacquiao as a stepping stone by whipping him badly next year and leaving him knocked out.

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It seems kind of heartless for Pacquiao to be a stepping stone after all these years of service for Top Rank, but I think that’s what the entire deal is. I don’t think Crawford is going to become a PPV attraction unfortunately no matter how bad he beats Pacquiao. If a talented fighter like Gennady Golovkin isn’t a PPV attraction after all this time, then there’s no way I can see Crawford leap frogging over Golovkin to take Pacquiao’s place as the next PPV star for Top Rank. I don’t see it happening. That’s why it’s a fruitless endeavor.

Pacquiao should just fight whoever is going to make him the most money for his final fight. Given the limited choices that Arum has presented to Pacquiao, Khan is clearly the best of the bunch in my view if money is what Pacquiao wants for his final fight. But then again, I wouldn’t agree with any of the three choices that Arum has offered.

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I’d call Floyd Mayweather Jr. myself to try and make that fight happen, and if that fight couldn’t happen, I’d call Golden Boy Promotions to talk to Oscar De La Hoya to have him setup a fight against Saul Canelo Alvarez. Pacquiao needs to end his career with a bang, not a whimper by being a stepping stone for someone who probably will never become a PPV star.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWH4-bjrcxc

Bradley is an awful choice too. Pacquiao already fought him twice, and most boxing fans feel that Pacuqiao won both fights. There’s no point in Arum trotting Bradley out again. That’s just a really dumb idea. Arum has got to have a better option than that for Pacquiao’s final fight. That just lacks imagination completely. If all Arum has is Bradley, Crawford and Khan for Pacquiao to choose from, then he needs to wait on Mayweather or try and see if he can push Arum to work a deal with Golden Boy for a Canelo fight.



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