By Jake Donovan

OMAHA, Neb.--Terence Crawford never has an issue focusing on the task at hand when it comes to boxing. The tight-lipped, unbeaten rising star knew heading into fight week for his super lightweight title defense versus Dierry Jean that at some point would come talks to potentially facing Manny Pacquiao next spring.

Some reporters on hand for his third sold-out headliner at CenturyLink Center at home in Omaha made the mistake of asking in advance his thoughts on such a fight. Those of us who knew better simply sat back and allowed the fight results to play out before discussing such a future scenario.

Now that his latest win is in the books – a one-sided 10th round knockout in the HBO-televised headliner – it’s time to talks shop.

Crawford’s name was mentioned as a strong candidate along with two others in the race to serve as the last fighter to face (and – in their vision – beat) Pacquiao, an event that is currently eyed for April 9 in Las Vegas. The other two choices would be former 140 lb. champ Amir Khan and the winner of the November 7 showdown between Timothy Bradley and Brandon Rios.

While Crawford (27-0, 19KOs) is facing stiff competition in such a lottery, he had the advantage of being first in line to visually plead his case for why he deserves such a fight.

So how did he do?

“It was just perfect," Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum noted to BoxingScene.com of Crawford's latest ring achievement. "He showed a lot of skill, a lot of smarts and a lot of patience. It showed that a fight with Pacquiao would be a hellacious type of fight.”

Of course, there are more variables in place in order to finalize terms. Ultimately it ends with whatever Pacquiao decides upon as the final fight of his incredible career before pursuing a run in mid-May for a Senate chair in his native Philippines.

For now, the plan is to make sure that Crawford appears on Pacquiao’s radar.

“I’ve of course talked to about Terence fighting Manny Pacquiao,” Arum told BoxingScene. “But Manny is his own man and will make his own decisions.

“We can't count on Manny to stay up and watch the fight in the Philippines, so we will get the fight to him through Michael Koncz. We also have to wait for the results on November 7. Then we will regroup and review all the results after that.

“But if you’re asking me… Manny said he wants to fight the best guy out there. We all saw (Saturday night) who’s that guy.”

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox