Michael Koncz, Manny Pacquiao’s adviser, confirmed Monday (Tuesday in Manila) that the eight-time world division champion has agreed to fight fellow stablemate Timothy Bradley this year.
Pacquiao (54-3-2, with 38 knockouts) will defend his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight belt against the reigning junior welterweight champion on June 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“From our end, the fight is done. I just got off the phone with (Top Rank’s) Bob Arum and Manny, so we’re done. I don’t assume there will be a problem from the Bradley side,” said Koncz, in a report by ESPN boxing writer Dan Rafael.
Koncz, who met with Top Rank CEO Bob Arum before discussing the details of the meeting to Pacquiao, said the Filipino boxing icon has approved the terms of the fight.
Bradley has yet to finalize the deal and has been discussing the details of the fight with Top Rank president Todd duBoef.
“We are going to be having further conversations with Bradley and his management early this week and hopefully finalize the deal,” duBoef said. “But the truth is my (promotional) agreement with Bradley lays out certain parameters for a Pacquiao fight, so there is a framework already.”
Floyd Mayweather Jr., Miguel Cotto, Lamont Peterson and Juan Manuel Marquez were the other names considered to be Pacquiao’s first opponent in 2012. Mayweather decided to face Cotto after he once again failed to come to terms with Team Pacquiao.
Cotto, meanwhile, opted to challenge Mayweather after he and Pacquiao failed to agree on the weight of their rematch. Pacquiao wanted the fight at 147-pounds.
Bradley (28-0, 12 KOs), 28, of Palm Springs, Calif., if he agrees to challenge Paqcuiao, will be moving up in weight from 140 to 147 lbs.
“We’ve been talking about this for over a month and we always had a Plan B in case Mayweather didn’t happen,” Koncz said. “Last time I went to the Philippines, I took Manny tapes of all of the opponents we were talking about and he watched them with his wife, Jinkee. Bradley was one of them, as everybody knows.” — JVP, GMA News
source: gmanews.tv
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