By Edward Chaykovsky

Many fans and insiders were hoping to see WBO junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford take on Manny Pacquiao on April 9th in Las Vegas.

Those hopes were cast aside on Wednesday, when it was announced that Pacquiao would face Timothy Bradley for a third time. Bradley won a controversial twelve round split decision in 2012 and lost in the 2014 rematch, where Pacquiao won a twelve round unanimous decision. The MGM Grand hosted the first two meetings and they have secured the trilogy.

Crawford wanted the opportunity, after raising his unbeaten record to 27-0 and capturing two divisional titles, but the fight may never happen as the April bout is potentially the final ring appearance for the Filipino superstar.

Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum spoke to HBO about having Pacquiao face Crawford on pay-per-view, but the network felt Crawford was not marketable enough to make the upcoming event a profitable success. Crawford is a very big draw in Omaha, but there is still a question as to whether or not that hometown appeal will extend to other markets and generate pay-per-view purchases.

Bradley, who holds the WBO welterweight championship, has the bigger name and appeared in major pay-per-view main events on several occasions. Crawford is now going to be pushed to an HBO televised return on February 27th in New York City.

“A lot of the writers thought Terence Crawford was the hottest candidate," Arum said to the 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.”