Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said on a Talkbox podcast that Manny Pacquiao and Kell Brook are the possibilities.
“We’re working on Terence’s fight in June or at the beginning of July,’’ Arum said. “There are a couple of options for Terence.
“We’re exploring a Pacquiao fight, and if that can’t happen, we’re exploring a fight against Kell Brook.”
Crawford trainer Brian McIntyre told ESPN in Frisco, Texas, that he has been told Crawford’s likely return date is June 13. He also mentioned Pacquiao and Brook.
“They say that they’re working on Pacquiao,” said McIntyre, who was at the news conference announcing the Regis Prograis-Maurice Hooker junior welterweight fight on April 17. “Fox and ESPN said they were going to try to work together to make something. They were going to look at the guy overseas, Kell Brook.”
Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs), a welterweight champion and No. 2 in Boxing Junkie’s latest pound-for-pound poll, had been rumored to be in line for two bouts – boxing and mixed martial arts — against UFC star McGregor. But cooperation between promotional entities and networks for Tyson Fury’s stoppage of Deontay Wilder in a heavyweight rematch appears to have created more boxing options.
Top Rank and Premier Boxing Champions were promotional partners for Fury-Wilder. Top Rank promotes Crawford and used to promote Pacquiao, who is now tied to PBC.
Pacquiao, also rumored to be a McGregor possibility, is expected to fight again this summer during a break from his duties as a Filipino Senator. Saudi Arabia, the host country for Anthony Joshua’s decision over Andy Ruiz Jr. on Dec. 7, reportedly wants to stage another major bout this summer.
“All that money, who wouldn’t want to go over there?” McIntyre said.
The 41-year-old Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs), a welterweight champion, is coming off a split decision over Keith Thurman on July 20.
Brook (39-2, 27 KOs) is a former welterweight champion who fought at 154 pounds in his last bout. He scored a seventh-round stoppage of American Mark DeLuca Feb. 2 in Sheffield England. After the impressive victory, he mentioned Crawford and said he’d be willing to go back down to 147 pounds.
Meanwhile, it’s still not clear when Errol Spence, Jr. will fight again. Spence (26-0, 21 KOs), who holds two of the belts, has been back in the gym, working his way back from a scary car crash Oct. 10 in Dallas.
“He’s got to get a fight underneath his belt to see how he feels, see if it’s still there,’’ McIntyre said of a possible Crawford-Spence fight.