WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford is scheduled to return in November, but reports that Manny Pacquiao will be in the other corner are wide of the mark.
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, who promoted the Filipino legend for most of his glittering, world championship career, would like a Pacquiao fight, but prospective opponents for the uber-slick Crawford are still at the discussion stage.
“Right now, all we’ve done is we’ve contacted Crawford and ‘BoMac’ [Brian McIntyre, Crawford’s trainer/manager], told them that they’ll fight in November, either the 14th or the 21st, and we’re looking at opponents,” Arum told Steve Kim of Espn.com.
“Obviously, if it’s Pacquiao and we can do the fight, which is a big ask because where am I going to put it? We can’t do it in the United States because there’s no crowds. So again, [reports] that it’s Pacquiao and Crawford – it’s misleading.”
Arum has also been contacted regarding the possibility of a fight between pound-for-pound star Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) and former IBF champion Kell Brook.
Crawford hasn’t fought since a ninth-round stoppage of Egidijus Kavaliauskas in December