There is a new name thrown into the mix of possible Manny Pacquiao opponents and he does seem a pretty interesting one – Adrien Broner.
With Pacquiao choosing to hold the announcement of his next opponent to early 2016, all that seemed to be headed to futility with Amir Khan and Terence Crawford technically bowing out.
Khan has opted to focus on Kell Brook where both could possibly face each other in July, 2016 at the Wembley Stadium.
Crawford on the other hand will be defending his title this February, making it unlikely for him to possibly be ready by April 9, 2016, the date that Pacquiao plans to hold his farewell fight.
So that left only Timothy Bradley Jr. though he too had was not too keen on a third fight, preferring Miguel Cotto instead. Doing the math, it seems that Bradley was the only one left and that much delayed announcement could only gain importance if new names were inserted back into the mix.
And apparently that has happened already with reports from Fighthype.com that Adrien Broner has been called up by Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz for a possible tiff.
“I hear they want me to fight Pacquiao next,” says Broner via Boxingnews24.com. “Michael Koncz actually called me. We’re waiting to hear from him.”
A fight with Broner could be more interesting than a fight with Bradley and does of course carry some implications.
Everyone knows that Broner has close ties with Floyd Mayweather Jr. so Broner could end up being fish bait to lure out the undefeated American boxer from retirement.
But if this is indeed the master plan of Pacquiao, he will have to come up with an impressive victory over Broner.
Broner is however not an easy opponent and seeing that Pacquiao wants to take it easy before he ventures out into the world of politics, it may not be a sweet farewell for the Filipino boxing icon.
This marks another move that has been made without Bob Arum’s name in the mix. Koncz seems to have come forward to make things happen for Paccquiao which all the more adds fuel to rumoured rifts going on inside the Pacquiao camp.
Belief of such stemmed when Arum said he was a bit surprised on the delay of Pacquiao’s next opponent for 2016. Other than that, it was believed that Arum wanted Crawford because he was someone new while Pacquiao wanted Bradley.
Bradley is seen by Pacquiao as an easier opponent due to familiarity but as everyone knows by now, “Desert Storm” is pretty much different with new trainer Teddy Atlas.
With Broner claiming to be in the mix, the possible Mayweather vs. Pacquiao is back in the air. But it may take more than a simple decision victory by Pacquiao to make that a reality over a dangerous Adrien Broner just in case