Talks of Pac-Floyd rematch still alive

With the 20,000-seat MGMAEG Arena in Las Vegas nearing completion, talks are rife about Manny Pacquiao headlining its inaugural show there alongside Floyd Mayweather in April 2016.

Even Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach said in a recent interview in Los Angeles that he’s heard stuff about Mayweather’s plan to grant Pacquiao a rematch as a fitting follow-up to their May superfight that generated more than $600 million in revenue.

While these are just talk and anything concrete might not surface until the next few weeks, Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum is putting in motion his plan to set Pacquiao’s comeback cum farewell fight on April 9 against one of three viable guys: Terence Crawford, Amir Khan and Tim Bradley.

“We’ll know by mid-November who Manny is going to fight next,” Arum said yesterday upon his return to Las Vegas after attending Crawford’s sensational stoppage of Dierry Jean in Omaha, Nebraska.

Bradley is also in the mix and Bradley has to look equally good against Brandon Rios on Nov. 7 if he wants to be considered.

Crawford, 28, became the current toast thanks to his head-turning showing against Jean, a one-time Pacquiao sparmate.

Immediately after his victory, Crawford, who bolstered to his record to 27-0 with 19 K0s, called out Pacquiao and even urged Arum to make the fight happen.

As Crawford looms as the top priority at the moment, he’ll have to take the backseat once Mayweather begins to entertain thoughts about coming out of retirement.

After his easy win over Andre Berto last month, Mayweather announced his retirement from the sport and made it clear that he doesn’t have any desire to face Pacquiao in a rematch.

Pacquiao, meanwhile, is back in active duty after an MRI exam showed that his right rotator cuff – the one he injured during the Mayweather defeat and had operated on – has healed completely.

But Roach is intrigued by the rumors swirling about a second meeting starring his No. 1 pupil and Mayweather.

“I’ve been hearing a lot of things (about a rematch taking place),” Roach told a couple of Manila-based scribes last week at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood.

“Well, those are just rumors, but…” said Roach with a wry smile.

As the saying goes, ‘where there’s smoke, there’s fire.’