Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent for his November 5th fight is still undecided, according to his promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank.
Arum says he wouldn’t be flying over to the Phiippines next week on August 9 if Pacquiao had already made a choice for his next opponent. However, Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz told the LA Times on Wednesday night that they’ve already made the choice to fight WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas next, not Terence Crawford.
Arum and Koncz are both flying over to the Philippines to talk with Pacquiao. Arum said earlier this week that the reason for him flying over to meet with Pacquiao was to find out which of the two Top Rank fighters – Vargas or Crawford – that he wants to fight. Arum picked them out himself after eliminating Adrien Broner, who he said asked for more money than they were willing to give him.
Koncz says that the reason why they’re flying over is to discuss the venue for Pacquiao’s fight. Koncz says they’re trying to decide whether to stage the fight in Las Vegas or Dubai. The opponent has already been selected, he says.
“That’s the essence of the meeting,” said Koncz to the latimes.com in saying that they’ll be talking about the venue. “Not choosing the opponent. That’s already been done.”
It look like Koncz and Pacquiao may have chosen the opponent, but Arum might have other ideas, because he seems to think Crawford is still in the running for the fight.
It’s thought by some boxing fans that Arum would prefer that Pacquiao fight Crawford because he wants to turn him into a star, and that he believes this fight could turn the Omaha, Nebraska native into a pay-per-view attraction for Top Rank.
"Bob Arum ✔ @BobArum
Nothing is official regarding @MannyPacquiaoTR's next fight until all aspects are discussed next week in the Philippines.
5:45 AM - 5 Aug 2016"
“Why would I go to the Philippines if I already had a deal and a decision on the opponent?” said Arum to Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. “If everything was set and arranged, why would I go over there for two days? I’m not going over there for the food. I am going to find out what the f— is on Manny’s mind…We have to talk about a lot of things. Among the issues is the opponent. Michael feels strongly about the opponent, but that’s Michael, not Manny. And Manny has the final say.”
You have to wonder whether Arum will persuade Pacquiao to fight Crawford when he meets up with him in the Philippines next week. Arum will likely explain to Pacquiao the difference in pay-per-view buys that he would get for each opponent. Crawford would likely bring in more PPV buys, but how much more is impossible to say because he’s not PPV star.
HBO hasn’t released the pay-per-view results for Crawford’s fight against Viktor Postol on HBO PPV last month. If those numbers are incredibly low, as many boxing fans think they’ll be, then it’s hard to justify Crawford as the guy that Pacquiao fights, because he has no record of establishing that he’s a PPV fighter.
Pacquiao can certainly fight Crawford if he wants to, but he likely won’t bring in a lot of PPV buys because the casual boxing fans, the ones that will determine success or failure of Pacquiao’s next fight on PPV, aren’t familiar with Crawford. He doesn’t have enough fights on HBO against quality guys for him to bring much to the table.
You can make a strong argument that the best guys for Pacquiao to fight to bring in PPV buys are fighters like Miguel Cotto, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Danny Garcia, Keith Thurman or Adrien Broner. Of course, none of those guys are in Arum’s Top Rank stable, so it probably wouldn’t be as good for Arum or his company.
I think it’s probably good for Arum if Pacquiao fights not only one of his own Top Rank fighters but that he fights Crawford rather than Vargas. It might not be good for Pacquiao though because the money probably won’t be as much as he could get in facing one of the above mentioned non-Top Rank fighters, and he would have to deal with Crawford’s running for 12 rounds. At least if Pacquiao were to fight Vargas, he wouldn’t have to chase him around the ring for 12 rounds and deal with that headache. When Crawford’s 37, I doubt that he would want to fight a runner too, especially if he’s slowed down and can’t move like used to.
If you look at the November 5th fight from Pacquiao’s perspective, I think he’s better off taking less money for a fight against Vargas so that he can fight a guy that will standing in front of him rather than running laps around the ring all night long like Crawford.
If I’m Pacquiao, I wouldn’t fight Crawford or Vargas. I would insist on Arum finding me a big name that can draw fans like Cotto or Canelo. Those would be my top two picks. I would want to be in on the negotiations so I could hear what is being said rather than having to get my information second hand through a filter. I wouldn’t want to be told that a particular fighter had priced himself out unless I found out for myself by sitting in on the meetings or being on the phone when the conversations are taking place. Pacquiao is a politician and I think a loss would be bad for him. It’s one thing losing to a guy that meets you in the center of the ring and beats you one-on-one in a war, but another thing to lose to someone that is running around the ring all night long. I don’t see it as a good career move if Pacquiao fights Crawford because he would have to chase him so much, and he’s not ever proven to be good at fighting guys that move and counter punch, which is what Crawford does.
