WBO light welterweight champion Terence Crawford is still hoping Manny Pacquiao will pick him for his scheduled fight on April 9 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Crawford along with WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley have been shortlisted by promoter Bob Arum for Pacquiao’s farewell fight on April 9 but the eight-division world champion has been dillydallying on his announcement of his next opponent. Pacquiao was supposed to announce his choice last week during the Donaire-Juarez fight in San Juan Puerto Rico but Arum said no announcement will be made as scheduled because Pacquiao has not decided on his choice. According to Crawford’s manager Cameron Dunkin, Crawford is going to fight three times in 2016. Boxing Scene writes: Some of the other fighters that were brought up according to Dunkin were Ruslan Provodnikov and Lucas Matthysse. As for when Crawford will return – if he indeed is bypassed by ‘the Pac Man’- Dunkin stated,”the end of February, probably.” Read more. Rumors are swirling that Pacquiao is still hoping Mayweather will come out of retirement and face him for the second time. Early in the week Mayweather visited Dubai along with 24 others in his entourage. Mayweather’s presence in Dubai adds fuel to speculations that the world’s highest-paid athlete is trying to make a deal with UAE-based financiers to bankroll the rematch. But both Mayweather and Pacquiao remain tight-lipped on the issue. “Haven’t been to the UAE in awhile so I decided to come get the Royal Treatment and take 24 people to Dubai to hang out for a few days,” Mayweather posted on his Twitter page. “I used to stay at The Burj Al Arab, 7 star hotel but now I’m at The Armani Burj Khalifa Hotel, the tallest building in the world! In his late post, Mayweather said: “Somewhere in the U.A.E. getting that Arab oil money.” Read more: Meanwhile, Pacquiao, who celebrated his 37th birthday yesterday, has been working on his political campaign for the upcoming senatorial elections. Pacquiao has ranked 7-10 in the list of Top 12 possible winners as shown in the latest Pulse Asia senatorial poll.
