By JONAS TERRADO
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum is keeping his hopes up on a potential welterweight clash between Manny Pacquiao and Terence Crawford outside of the United States.
But Arum also told iFL.tv on Tuesday that having Pacquiao and Crawford in the same ring may be a distant possibility, which is why he already has Plan B on his mind.
That alternative would be a Crawford bout against British boxer Kell Brook.
“Terence Crawford, we’re trying to put together and fight with Manny Pacquiao, which would be out of the United States,” the veteran promoter said.
“Now, if we’re not able to do that fight and we have to do it in the ‘bubble,’ we are looking at having Terence fight Kell Brook.”
Arum also admitted that having Pacquiao as an opponent for the current WBO welterweight champion is pipe dreams compared to facing 34-year-old Brook, especially if they’ll push through with the plan of having a bubble concept much like the NBA.
“To do a Crawford-Brook fight is a lot easier because it would be a fight that we would be in the ‘bubble’ here in Las Vegas,” said Arum.
There have been rumors that a Pacquiao-Crawford showdown is in the works, though MP Promotions CEO Sean Gibbons told Spin.ph that it’s “1,000 percent nonsense.”
Pacquiao hasn’t fought since wresting the WBA welterweight crown from Keith Thurman in July 2019.
Crawford, 32, defended the WBO belt for the third time last December with a ninth round TKO of Egidijus Kavaliauskas at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden. Crawford is 36 fights.
