By Edward Chaykovsky
During a recent appearance on ESPN's First Take, Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum discussed several possible candidates to face Manny Pacquiao in 2017 - provided Pacquiao is able to get past WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas on November 5th at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
The subject came up of whether or not Pacquiao would consider giving a crack at the WBO belt - should be beat Vargas - to unbeaten welterweight contender Errol Spence Jr. (21-0, 18 KOs).
Arum is very high on Spence, but doesn't believe the United States Olympian has done enough to prove himself in the pro ranks.
Of course an argument can be made that Spence only needed five rounds to completely demolish Chris Algieri, who Pacquiao was unable to stop over twelve rounds - despite scoring six knockdowns.
Spence is currently the IBF's mandatory challenger to Kell Brook, who is still undecided on his future in the welterweight division. Brook is recovering from a fractured orbital bone that was suffered in last month's fight with middleweight king Gennady Golovkin. If Brook remains in the welterweight ranks, he will have to face Spence at some point next year or vacate his title. Most experts are still anticipating Brook's career to direct itself to the junior middleweight limit of 154-pounds.
"Errol Spence looks like he’s going to be a terrific fighter, he really does. But he hasn’t really proven himself. He hasn’t fought for a world title yet. He hasn’t fought some of the best fighters in the welterweight division. Can he possibly rise to the top? Can he beat a [Danny] Garcia? Can he beat a [Keith] Thurman? We don’t know. Probably yes. But the truth is he’s a terrific prospect, but he’s still a prospect. He's still a prospect. Maybe, maybe he has the goods to rise to the top,” Arum said.
