Manny Pacquiao will face Timothy Bradley on April 9 in Las Vegas after also strongly considering reigning World Boxing Organization super lightweight champion Terence Crawford and British boxer Amir Khan.
Crawford, who has a perfect 27-0 record with 19 knockout victories, was originally tagged as frontrunner in the race to get a shot against Pacquiao, but the Filipino boxing icon and his camp eventually settled for a rematch with Bradley, who holds the WBO welterweight title.
The choice came as a surprise to many, but Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum insisted that Bradley is the most logical choice because Crawford is not as popular as the "Desert Storm" at this point.
"A lot of the writers thought Terence Crawford was the hottest candidate," Arum told Las Vegas Review Journal. "But they felt that Crawford wasn't as marketable, because other than people in the boxing industry, people didn't know Crawford well enough."
Khan, who is a former sparring mate of Pacquiao, was also mentioned as possible foe, but Arum pointed out that HBO was not too interested in staging the bout and that the British boxing star is not under Top Rank Promotions.
"What they said was how Amir Khan didn't resonate with them at all," Arum added. "Yeah, he would do some pay-per-view business in England, but they didn't think he was an attraction in the United States."
Despite the fact that Bradley has already collide with Pacquiao twice before, Arum thinks that the third showdown will feel like a fresh fight because he views the 32-year-old as a different fighter now after hiring Teddy Atlas as his trainer following his split with Joel Diaz.
Bradley is coming off a ninth-round knockout win against Brandon Rios in November. Arum said that they liked what they saw from the California native, which was the reason why they strongly considered him for Pacquiao's next fight, which could also be the farewell bout of the Filipino boxing icon.
"Bradley with his performance with Rios, and the fact that he seems to be a new fighter and fresh fighter because of Teddy Atlas seems like the most salable guy," Arum said. "This is a different Bradley."
