Arum Interested In A Potential Crawford-Pacquiao Bout
Following the success of the rematch between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury, there are those wondering when the next collaboration between Top Rank and Premier Boxing Champions would be. If Bob Arum has his way, we could be seeing one sooner rather than later.
Speaking on the TalkBox podcast with Michael Woods, Top Rank’s fearless leader discussed options for WBO Welterweight Champion Terence Crawford. One of those options could be the Senator of the Philippines himself, Manny Pacquiao.
“We are working on Terence’s fight, which will be in June, the latest being the beginning of July,” Arum stated. “There’s a couple of options for Terence Crawford. We are exploring a Pacquiao fight, and we’re exploring, if that can’t happen, a fight against Kell Brook.”
Pacquiao (62-7-2) is the current WBA Welterweight Champion, beating Keith Thurman in his last fight via split decision for the super belt. That fight was produced via Premier Boxing Champions. The 41-year-old is on a three-fight win streak. Top Rank last produced a Pacquiao fight back in 2018, when Pacquiao beat Lucas Matthysse via TKO in seven rounds. It was a comeback win following a controversial loss to Jeff Horn, also on ESPN programming.
If Pacquiao is not a possibility, another collaboration could be with Matchroom Boxing. Kell Brook (39-2), the WBO Inter-Continental Light-Middleweight Champion, is coming off of a TKO-win over Mark DeLuca in the beginning of February. On a three-fight win streak, that was his first fight in two years. With fights like Gennadiy Golovkin and Errol Spence Jr. under his belt, the experience of Brook could be an interesting factor in a fight against Crawford.
The 32-year-old Crawford (36-0) won his last bout in December over Egidijus Kavaliauskas via TKO. It was the third time defending the WBO belt he won from Jeff Horn back in 2018. Fans have been clamoring for “Bud” to receive big fights, and some of the top fighters out there are in different promotions.
Besides Brook and Pacquiao, fighters that have been discussed when it comes to Crawford include Danny Garcia, Shawn Porter and even Conor McGregor.