TOP Rank’s Bob Arum said fans must forget about a fight between eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao and Adrien Broner following a meeting with the Filipino icon’s adviser Michael Koncz at the promoter’s home yesterday.
Arum said a third Pacquiao fight against Timothy Bradley at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas likely to happen.
Koncz is expected to discuss the details with Pacquiao and a decision is likely to be made within the next two days.
“Mike was over at my house and he will let me know (Pacquiao’s response) to a possible trilogy with Bradley today or tomorrow,” Arum told The Standard/boxingmirror.com.
Arrangements have already been made with Bradley, who is also handled by Top Rank Promotions.
Bradley is coming off an impressive ninth-round TKO victory over Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios last Nov. 7 in Las Vegas.
In a report on the fight, Dan Rafael of ESPN said the team up of Bradley and trainer Teddy Atlas paid big dividends in their first fight together and in one of the best performances of his career, the American dominated Rios to score a ninth-round TKO victory to retain his WBO welterweight title.
“Bradley showed off nifty footwork, speed and a solid, accurate right hand that caught Rios, the crowd favorite time and again, before he finished him off with two knockdowns in the ninth round,” Rafael wrote.
Arum himself said: “That was the best Bradley I’ve ever seen and we had him for so many years.”
It will be Pacquiao’s first ring appearance after his unanimous-decision loss to undefeated pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. in their May 2 “Fight of the Century.”
Mayweather has since retired.
Bradley won a universally condemned split decision over Pacquiao on June 9, 2012 to grab the WBO welterweight title from the Filipino. But Bradley lost a lopsided unanimous decision to the Filipino southpaw in a rematch on April 12, 2014.
Boxing Scene quoted trainer Jeff Mayweather, the uncle of Floyd, who said Atlas won’t be a factor in the potential trilogy between Pacquiao and Bradley.
Jeff Mayweather noted: “I thought he (Bradley) got beat fairly easily both times. Teddy Atlas—or anyone else—can’t help him win.”
Speaking on the program “On The Ropes” boxing radio show, Mayweather said Bradley “may do a little better, but at the end of the day Tim’s been in a lot of wars since the last time they fought . He may have more wear and tear on him than Pacquiao does.”
