Inihayag ni Top Rank promoter Bob Arum na sa loob ng dalawang araw ay papangalanan na ni eight-division world champ Manny Pacquiao kung sino sa three top contender na boksingero ang makatutunggali niya sa huling laban sa Abril 9, 2016 sa Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ayon kay Arum, mamimili si Pacquiao kina WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley, WBO light welterweight titlist Terence Crawford at WBC Silver 147 pounds titlist Amir Khan sa kanyang huling makakalaban bago magretiro sa professional boxing.
Sa panayam kay Dan Rafael ng ESPN.com, sinabi ni Arum na dapat nagkausap sila kahapon ni Pacquiao sa pamamagitan ng telepono ngunit ang tagapayo nito na si Michael Koncz ang nagsabing magdedesisyon na si Pacquiao anumang araw.
“The 36-year-old Pacquiao is due back in the ring on April 9 (HBO PPV) at a venue to be determined in Las Vegas for what is supposedly the final fight of his career, as he is likely to win a six-year term in the senate in the Philippines, which will keep him way too busy to continue boxing,” ayon sa ulat ni Rafael.
Inamin ni Koncz kay Arum na pinanood mabuti ni Pacquiao ang mga video tape ng huling laban ng tatlong boksingero kaya magpapasiya na sa makakalaban.
“He’s absolutely positive we’ll have an answer by Friday,” sabi ni Arum na nagsabing may garantiyang premyo si Pacquiao na mahigit $20 milyon.
Mas gusto ni Arum na piliin ni Pacquiao ang mga ka-stable na sina Bradley at Crawford kaysa kay Khan na hawak ng idinemanda niya ng $100 milyong danyos na si Al Haymon na namimirata ng mga boksingero sa pamamagitan ng Premier Boxing Champions.
“I purposely kept myself out of it because at this point it doesn’t matter who Manny picks,” naunang sinabi ni Arum.
“Would I prefer it not to be Khan? Yes, but this is Manny’s last fight. I have a duty to him to present him all of the options. Do I hope he doesn’t pick Khan though? Of course [because I don’t promote him], but I don’t think he will pick Khan. Khan was an option when we considered having this fight in April in the Middle East, so he was a guy on the table. Now the Middle East is not on the table, but he’s still one of the guys on the table.”dagdag ni Arum.
(Gilbert Espeña)