Top Rank's Bob Arum is lining up opponents for Terence Crawford's return to boxing this year after having his initial plans derailed by COVID-19, but if Crawford doesn’t get the money he is asking for, then the WBO welterweight champion won't be back in 2020.
Arum told ESPN that he plans to have Crawford return to the ring this fall, and he's hopeful that fans will be allowed to attend fights by then.
"We're going to have Terence fight in September or October, period," Arum said. "We're looking to either match him with [Manny] Pacquiao, Kell Brook, [Yordenis] Ugas or [Shawn] Porter."
Of all the names mentioned, Pacquiao is the one that stands out. He was once part of Arum's stable of fighters, but pairing him with Crawford was reportedly squashed by the Filipino senator's handlers. Back then, it seemed as if Pacquiao was in the twilight of his career and heading toward retirement. But the 41-year-old has seen a career rejuvenation of sorts; he went 2-0 in 2019 with a one-sided victory over Adrien Broner and a split decision against Keith Thurman to claim the WBA (Super) welterweight title.
Although Pacquiao is now competing under Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions banner, Arum believes the politics between promotions have been smoothed over following the two heavyweight fights between PBC's Deontay Wilder and Top Rank's Tyson Fury.
A new challenge has now presented itself with the coronavirus pandemic, however, and trying to find a location for the fight has become a massive obstacle.
"We're hamstrung because none of these [venues] want to commit to a fight this year because of the coronavirus," said Arum. "And Kell Brook, if we made [that fight], we couldn't get him (into the United States)."
Top Rank is holding televised fights in Las Vegas without fans in attendance. The issue with that is there is no live gate to assist in paying fighters. If that situation doesn't change soon, then it could cause financial constraints that would require fighters to take less money than usual.
If that happens, then Crawford would have no interest in returning until the situation is cleared up.
"Just don’t try and tell me I have to take a pay cut because of a pandemic," Crawford said during his recent appearance on "The Last Stand Podcast." "I don’t feel that's right when I've already went through what I had to go through coming up. Now you’re telling me go back to Ground 1 and take a pay cut. I just don't feel like I can do that."