Manny Pacquiao is expected to name his opponent for his next fight that is expected to take place on April 9 in Las Vegas. The fight will likely be Pacquiao's farewell bout.
According to ESPN, Pacquiao will make his decision soon. Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum said that he is expecting a decision on Friday and also revealed that the former world champion is picking between Terence Crawford, Timothy Bradley and Amir Khan.
Crawford, who holds a perfect 27-0 record and is also the reigning World Boxing Organization super lightweight champion, is considered as frontrunner in the race to face Pacquiao.
Previous reports indicated that the camps of both boxers have already engaged in preliminary talks about the possible fight, but Crawford's camp is still waiting if the unbeaten champion will land the bout, which will be the biggest fight of his seven-year professional career.
Bradley is another option for Pacquiao, as the two fighters have already faced each other twice before. Bradley escaped with a controversial split decision win during their first fight in 2012, but Pacquiao avenged the defeat with a convincing unanimous decision victory in April 2014.
Bradley, who is the reigning WBO welterweight champion, is also open to a rubber match against the Filipino boxing icon, but the California native added that he would also be happy if Crawford will be picked as Pacquiao's next foe.
"I wouldn't mind seeing a young lion get a shot at Pacquiao before Pacquiao leaves," Bradley told BoxingScene. "Terence Crawford is a good friend of mine and I would like to see him get that shot."
The 32-year-old also believes Crawford could beat Pacquiao next year because Bradley is unsure if the former eight-division champion will get his old form back after a long layoff. Pacquiao has not fought since losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May after undergoing shoulder surgery.
"I think Crawford has a very good chance of beating Manny Pacquiao," Bradley added. "We don't know how Manny Pacquiao is going to come back."
On the other hand, Khan is still in the mix. However, Arum sounded uninterested in pitting Pacquiao against Khan, who is a former sparring partner of the former pound-for-pound king.
"Do I hope he doesn't pick Khan though? Of course, but I don't think he will pick Khan," Arum said. "Khan was an option when we considered having this fight in April in the Middle East, so he was a guy on the table. Now the Middle East is not on the table, but he's still one of the guys on the table."
