Arum says Pacquiao-Bradley a done deal

According to Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times, Manny Pacquiao will be facing Tim Bradley for a third time on April 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, with promoter Bob Arum telling the reporter that the deal is done, and the paperwork is being sent out.

Three fighters were reportedly in the hunt to receive the assignment as Pacquiao’s last opponent, but he chose Bradley, likely because it presented him the opportunity to add another world championship to his already impressive resume before calling it a career. The highly anticipated superfight didn’t live up to the high expectations, and Pacquiao later revealed he came into the fight with an injured right shoulder. He had the injury surgically repaired following the loss.

Pacquiao has officially filed his certificate of candidacy last October to vie for one of the 12 senate seats that will be vacated by incumbent senators whose terms of office are expiring next year. Arum has given Pacquiao until the end of this month to make his choice in order to give enough time for the promotional aspect of the fight.

Pacquiao vs. Bradley is definitely a watchable fight.

“It’s not going to be Manny’s last fight because anything could still happen and you know Manny”, he said. The Bradley who beat Rios was better than the Bradley I’ve seen of the last five years.

Arum said he’s seeking to place a super-middleweight title fight between his unbeaten challenger Gilberto Ramirez and Arthur Abraham on the Pacquiao-Bradley undercard, along with a possible heavyweight bout between Ike Ibeabuchi and Andy Ruiz. They first faced each other in June 2012, where the former was awarded with a controversial split decision verdict.

While Khan isn’t booked to fight anyone, Crawford is likely to defend his 140 lbs WBO title against Mauricio Herrera in February on regular HBO. It would be like Floyd Mayweather Jr. asking boxing fans to pay to see him fight Andre Berto again immediately after having beaten him soundly last September. Why should anyone expect a third fight against Pacquiao to unfold differently following a good showing against a much lesser fighter than Marquez? Broner has a big ego, and his adviser Al Haymon would be working hard to get him a proportional cut of the loot in a fight against Bradley.

Many boxing fans liked the idea of Pacquiao fighting Broner, as they saw this as a Pacquiao vs. a generic Floyd Mayweather Jr. type of fight.