Arum on Crawford's Star Power, Ali vs. Vargas in 2016

By Ryan Burton

Wynn Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada - 2014 Fighter of the Year Terence Crawford (27-0, 19KOs) is on the short list to fight Manny Pacquiao in what will likely be his final fight on April 9th, 2016 in Las Vegas.

The Omaha, Nebraska bred fighter has been featured in his hometown in three of his previous four fights and proven to be a very good ticket seller at home.  Arum said that because of the way they have built him up at home, a sizable contingent of local fans would probably travel to Sin City to see him face the Filipino star.

"As you can see from our history with say, Marvin Hagler - we build up a guy in his hometown.  I believe that if Crawford fought Manny here in Las Vegas, 3-4 thousand people would come from Nebraska to watch the fight," Arum told BoxingScene.com.

A fight to pit once-beaten former super lightweight champion Jessie Vargas against undefeated welterweight contender Sadam Ali that was targeted for December 19th fell apart when the fighters wouldn't agree to fight in each other's home state.  When asked about the fight, Arum said that it is still possible for 2016.

"Vargas (and Ali) we will (probably) do that fight next year," said Arum who was also asked if Vargas may fight the loser of Saturday's battle between Tim Bradley and Brandon Rios. "That is a possiblity also," he answered.

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