Manny Pacquiao and Terence Crawford are in discussions to fight June 5 in Abu Dhabi.
According to Mike Coppinger of The Athletic, “Top Rank has informed its network partner, ESPN, and pay-per-view distributor In Demand to hold June 5 for the potential fight, which is “contingent” on it taking place in Abu Dhabi. It also makes sense due to the fact Bob Arum said he’d be announcing a major pay-per-view fight for Crawford this week and Pacquiao is just that if a deal can be made.
Earlier this month, however, Pacquiao said he was leaning Mikey Garcia next after his Ryan Garcia fight fell through. Yet, it appears he is now set to fight Crawford.
“We’re leaning towards Mikey Garcia, but we’re also talking to Crawford,” Pacquiao told Dyan Castillejo of ABS-CBN. “It depends on who I get to face, what’s important is I’m ready.
Pacquiao also says he wants $40 million for the fight while Crawford would only get $10 million.
“I like to fight somebody who has a title. We told Bob I get $40 million and Crawford gets $10 million, Pacquiao said to the Filipino Daily Tribune. “I will fight anybody. You know me, I don’t back away from any challenge. Bring ‘em on!”
Manny Pacquiao, is coming off a split decision win over Keith Thurman in July of 2019 to win the WBA (Super) welterweight title. It was his third straight win, but he hasn’t been in the talks of his next boxing fight. He was linked to Conor McGregor, but after he was upset by Dustin Poirier, Pacquiao and his team have appeared to move on to Garcia.
Terence Crawford, meanwhile, is 37-0 and coming off a TKO win over Brook back in November. He’s the current WBO welterweight champion and holds wins over Amir Khan, Jose Benavidez Jr., and Jeff Horn.
Who do you think will win, Manny Pacquiao or Terence Crawford?
Amir Khan is hoping to finally secure a long talked about and highly anticipated fight with his compatriot, Kell Brook, in 2021
“What’s the fight that everyone wants to see? Everyone wants to see the Kell Brook fight. We’ve been talking about it for years and years,” Khan told TalkSport. “Look, me and Kell are probably past our best, I’ll be honest. But at the same time, we’re both around the same age. I think it’d be a good fight between us to see who is still No. 1 in Britain. So I called [Matchroom Boxing head] Eddie Hearn and I said, ‘Let’s make it happen.’ Eddie said, ‘No worries,’ spoke to Kell’s family and Kell’s father wasn’t interested in it, he said, ‘No, we’re gonna look at other options.’ What other option is there for Kell Brook to make a good payday and fight someone with a big name like myself? Unless he fights someone with a world title or in America.
“So I’m scratching my head man, I’m thinking like, ‘What’s he going through?’ What’s going on with Kell Brook? How come he doesn’t want the fight? Let’s make it happen … The prediction for me and Kell Brook? I knock out Kell Brook in under six rounds.”
Khan believes a fight with Brook would still fill out a English football stadium.
“Let’s be realistic here — a fight in the Middle East obviously that could happen over there,” Khan continued. “We have a big fan base in the Middle East and my last fight against Billy Dib was there. But really, why should we go there when we could do it here in the UK? We’re both British fighters, let’s make it in the UK. Doing that in a football stadium here, that could be massive. So let’s hope things open up. Once things open up properly and we sort out the third or fourth wave, let me put a beating on Kell Brook.
If he’s unable to secure one final big fight, Khan will retire from the sport.
“The only two fights out there for me in my opinion are Kell Brook or Manny Pacquiao. Otherwise — I’ve been in the game a long time and when you’ve been in training camp after training camp and having almost 40 fights now. Your body is breaking and you need to call it a day one day. So I am giving it the last, last chapter of my boxing career. I get either fight and I call it a day.”
