Terence Crawford (left) against Yuriorkis Gamboa (right) during the WBO world lightweight championship boxing bout June 28, 2014. AP PHOTO
Though many is looking at Manny Pacquiao’s third fight against Timothy Bradley on April as his swan song, Top Rank big boss Bob Arum still isn’t sold on the idea of the eight-division world champion walking away from the sport of boxing.
In a report of BoxingScene.com, the boxing kingmaker remains skeptical about Pacquiao’s retirement plans, but is leaving the decision up to the famed fighter.
READ: 3rd fight vs Pacquiao no lose situation for Bradley, says Arum
“If he wants to keep fighting, of course I’ll promote it, but that decision is up to him,” he said.
But if Pacquiao does change his plans, Arum already has someone in mind for his next opponent: WBO junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford.
Crawford (27-0, 19KOs), considered to be one of the prospects for the Pacquiao fight which went to Bradley, will go up against Hank Lundy on February 27 at The Theater in New York’s Madison Square Garden.
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If Crawford emerges victorious, Arum has big plans in mind for him in the future.
“If he beats Lundy, we’ll do one more with Crawford in June or July and then, I want to a big fight for Crawford, a big pay-per-view fight,” he said. “We’ll look at what’s available. If Manny beat Bradley and decides that he wants to keep fighting, then Crawford is the perfect opponent.”
Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38KOs) completes his trilogy with Bradley (33-1-1, 13KOs) on April 9 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
READ: Can Arum really retire Pacquiao?
After that, Pacquiao is expected to return to the Philippines as he seeks a seat in the Senate, and possibly, a higher position in the future.
Despite those plans, Arum is still taking the retirement talks “with a grain of salt,” and is still keeping his hopes up for one more match for Pacquiao.