Sources close to the information have informed us that undefeated jr. welterweight champion Terence Crawford has taken the lead in the race to secure a lucrative April 9 showdown with 8-division former world champion Manny Pacquiao. Earlier this week, Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum revealed that Pacquiao's opponent would be announced during tonight's "MetroPCS Friday Night Knockout" card on truTV. For whatever reason, however, it was recently revealed that the announcement would be postponed.
Earlier this month, a report on philstar.com, a Philippine news outlet, suggested that Pacquiao had already selected welterweight champion Timothy Bradley as his next opponent. Although no quote was attributed to Pacquiao, other media outlets were quick to corroborate the story, especially after Bradley's wife and manager, Monica, confirmed that she had been in talks with Top Rank President Todd duBoef about the fight. Given that Bradley will be commentating tonight's truTV telecast, it made sense that he would likely be announced as the opponent for what is being billed as Pacquiao's final fight.
But then came the postponement of the announcement.
Coincidentally, Terence Crawford is also currently in Puerto Rico, where the truTV card is taking place. Although he's reportedly "vacationing" there, according to one of our sources, he and Arum have had discussions in the past 48 hours about landing the assignment to face Pacquiao. While the final decision allegedly rests with Pacquiao, we're told that the more likely scenario is that Pacquiao probably prefers to face Bradley, but Arum would rather he fight Crawford, so they need more time for both sides to get on the same page. The question is, which page will they land on: Bradley or Crawford?
If Pacquiao gets what we're told he wants, then expect a rubber match with Timothy Bradley, but don't be surprised if Arum's preference, Terence Crawford, wins the race.
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