By Keith Idec
Bob Arum claims he wants to make Manny Pacquiao-Terence Crawford for later this year, probably in November.
Crawford, as he has said all along, reiterated that he wants the fight to happen as soon as possible. Whether we’re actually any closer to Pacquiao-Crawford becoming a reality is anyone’s guess.
Arum, whose company promotes Pacquiao and Crawford, and Crawford confirmed during a conference call Thursday that they have their sights set on a full title unification fight with unbeaten Julius Indongo if Crawford can defeat Felix Diaz on May 20 at Madison Square Garden. Namibia’s Indongo (22-0, 11 KOs) owns the IBF, IBO and WBA 140-pound championships and will attend the Crawford-Diaz fight, which will be contested for Crawford’s WBC and WBO super lightweight titles.
If Crawford were to beat Diaz and Indongo, then a long-discussed showdown with Pacquiao could be scheduled. The 38-year-old Pacquiao (59-6-2, 38 KOs) must first make a defense of his WBO welterweight title against Australia’s Jeff Horn (16-0-1, 11 KOs) on July 2 in Brisbane.
“Well, I don’t like to project too far ahead,” Arum said. “[Pacquiao-Crawford] may be two fights ahead. I am not content with guys fighting once or twice a year. That is bullsh*t. I mean, guys have to fight regularly. Terence will fight in May. Manny is fighting in July. Terence would love, I think, if he gets through this fight well, to get back in the ring sometime this summer. And then we’ll look to the fall.
“Would Pacquiao and Crawford be a good fight, a big attraction? You bet your ass it will. And we will, all things being equal, we will do our best to make that fight because I think the public wants to see it and the public will support it. Manny Pacquiao has been a great fighter, a great attraction. I love Manny Pacquiao. Manny Pacquiao is the kind of guy that’s not afraid to step up and fight anybody. Terence Crawford is the rising star in boxing. Everybody would love to see that fight. But that’s all I can say about it. Yeah, I agree with [the] assessment that it’s a fight that the fans wanna see. And if it’s a fight that the fans wanna see, a promoter has the obligation to make it happen.”
Crawford (30-0, 21 KOs), of Omaha, Nebraska, remains focused on Diaz (19-1, 9 KOs), a southpaw who won a gold medal for the Dominican Republic at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
“Of course Pacquiao is somebody that I would like to fight,” Crawford said. “But at the same time, if it’s not in front of me then I’m really not worried about it.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
