Manny Pacquiao to fight Timothy Bradley on April 9 at MGM Grand
Manny Pacquiao has finally made up his mind, and he didn’t go with a fresh face.
Pacquiao will fight Timothy Bradley Jr. for a third time April 9 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum confirmed Wednesday.
The Filipino boxer gave his decision Monday night to fight Bradley over Terence Crawford and Amir Khan, and the fighters agreed to terms Tuesday.
Pacquiao, 37, had been scheduled to announce his opponent Dec. 11 during a boxing card televised on TruTV, but he wasn’t ready to make a choice then. The fight is expected to be Pacquiao’s final fight after he said he will focus on his political career in the Philippines after one more bout.
HBO PPV, MGM Grand and Top Rank helped Pacquiao with his decision, and all agreed Bradley created the most marketable matchup, according to Arum.
“We all gave him (Pacquiao) an input,” Arum said. “From the cable companies, the satellite providers, MGM, it was about who is the strongest opponent from a marketable standpoint, and we outlined everything for him and we were down to three choices and (Pacquiao) thought Bradley was the one that made the most sense.”
Many fight fans probably groaned upon learning Pacquiao (57-6-2) had chosen Bradley (33-1-1) over an up-and-comer such as Crawford. In June 2012, Bradley won a split decision over Pacquiao in a controversial fight in which many viewed the Filipino as the clear winner. The two met again in April 2014 and Pacquiao won handily, giving Bradley his first professional defeat after 31 wins.
So what makes Bradley marketable? Teddy Atlas does, according to Arum. In November, a rejuvenated Bradley easily knocked out Brandon Rios at the Thomas & Mack Center in his first fight with renowned trainer and ESPN boxing analyst Atlas in his corner.
“Bradley with his performance with Rios, and the fact that he seems to be a new fighter and fresh fighter because of Teddy Atlas seems like the most salable guy,” Arum said. “This is a different Bradley.”
Khan, the long-shot candidate, didn’t appeal to the TV companies, and it didn’t help that the English boxer wasn’t represented by Top Rank. Khan (31-3) is coming off a sluggish May win against Chris Algieri.
“What they said (HBO) was how Amir Khan didn’t resonate with them at all,” Arum said. “Yeah, he would do some pay-per-view business in England, but they didn’t think he was an attraction in the United States.”
Many pundits viewed Crawford (27-0) as the best option for Pacquiao’s potential final opponent to end his career. The undefeated Nebraska boxer has dominated opponents and made a name for himself in 2015, but his name isn’t big enough yet to the TV providers.
“A lot of the writers thought Terence Crawford was the hottest candidate,” Arum said, “but they felt that Crawford wasn’t as marketable, because other than people in the boxing industry, people didn’t know Crawford well enough.”
Crawford didn’t win the Pac-Man sweepstakes, but Arum is taking care of his next Top Rank star with two HBO cards in 2016. Crawford is scheduled for a fight Feb. 27 at Madison Square Garden in New York and could fight again in the summer in his hometown of Omaha, according to Arum.
After Bradley defeated Rios, the fighter known as “Desert Storm” said he wanted to see his good friend Crawford get a shot at Pacquiao.
“Bradley always wanted the fight,” Arum said. “He was probably just saying that in case he was disappointed.”
Bradley, 32, now has his rubber match and another shot to prove his split decision win over the future Hall of Famer wasn’t a fluke.
“Teddy Atlas is convinced Bradley is going to win,” Arum said.
Arum compares this match to the third fight between Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez in 2011. The public badly wanted Pacquiao to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. and instead got the third installment with Marquez.
“When he fought Marquez a third time, a lot of people thought it would be a walkover for Manny, and it was a close fight and it did well in the box office,” Arum said.
The public finally got Pacquiao versus Mayweather in May, but many were disappointed with the performance. After the megafight, Pacquiao revealed he was fighting with an injured shoulder, which required surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff.
Arum said Pacquiao will get his shoulder re-evaluated after the first news conference for the fight in January.
Pacquiao has said this fight will be his last because he is likely to be elected to a six-year term in the Philippines Senate in May. But Arum said he doesn’t want to sell the match as Pac-Man’s farewell.
“In my heart of heart, I’m not sure that it is his last fight, but he says that it is,” Arum said. “I don’t want to be in a position where I’m selling this as his last fight and he later decides to fight again in November.”
In a potential undercard main event for Pacquiao-Bradley III, Arthur Abraham could defend his World Boxing Organization super middleweight title against rising Mexican Gilberto Ramirez.
— Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter: gmanzano24