Arum eyes Pacquiao farewell fight against Crawford

Terence Crawford made a strong case as Manny Pacquiao’s next foe following a resounding tenth-round stoppage yesterday of ex-Pacquiao sparmate Dierry Jean of Canada in Omaha, Nebraska.

Shortly after the win, Crawford made a bold declaration and urged his promoter, the Hall of Famer Bob Arum of Top Rank, who also sets up fights for Pacquiao, to “make the fight happen.”

Arum, 83, seems keen in pairing the two together for a mega matchup for April 9 in Las Vegas, which the renowned dealmaker believes will be Pacquiao’s farewell fight.

“That’s going to be a hell of a fight,” said Arum, who had discussed with Pacquiao several options when they met in New York City last week.

Crawford, who boosted his unbeaten slate to 27-0 with 19 KOs, is on the radar screen as a potential Pacquiao opponent.

But Arum is also looking at two other marquee names: British Amir Khan and American Tim Bradley.

Bradley, who split two fights with Pacquiao, is in the mix and should also be considered assuming he looks good against Brandon Rios in their fight set next month.

Ruled out as Pacquiao rival is Juan Manuel Marquez, who is not interested in a fifth fight with Pacquiao, and even Floyd Mayweather, who has announced his retirement.

But things will look pretty interesting if Mayweather suddenly comes out of retirement and decides to grant Pacquiao a rematch.

Pacquiao, who turns 37 in December, says he is going to fight one last time because he will concentrate on his political career as he is expected to win a Senate seat during the May, 2016 elections.

“My deal with Manny is that after I have my conversations with all the likely contenders, I go to Manny and (Canadian adviser) Michael (Koncz) and lay everything out and let them pick who Manny wants to fight,” said Arum in a story posted on ESPN.

“I’m telling you what he told me last week at dinner in New York,” Arum told the website. “We talked very seriously and he said, “Bob, hopefully, by the middle of May I will have been elected senator in the Philippines and at that point I cannot engage in boxing because I need to focus on the Senate and I have to be in attendance.”

“Manny told me this fight on April 9 will be his last fight.”

Pacquiao has been a congressman since 2010. (With a report from AFP)