Crawford ipinagtanggol ni Arum

MANILA, Philippines - Idinepensa ni Top Rank chief Bob Arum si WBC at WBO super lightweight champion Te-rence Crawford kaugnay sa pagsagupa nito kay Manny Pacquiao.

Sa isang boxingscene.com report ni Keith Idec, pinabulaanan ni Arum ang naunang pahayag ni trainer Freddie Roach na humihingi umano si Crawford ng $7 milyon para labanan ang Filipino boxing superstar.

Kaagad itong pinasinungalingan ni Crawford nang ihayag sa kanyang Twitter account na walang nangyayaring negosasyon sa kanila ni Pacquiao.

Sinuportahan naman ni Arum si Crawford.

“I called Freddie up a few weeks ago because we wanted to talk to him about Crawford as a possible opponent. And that’s all we talked about. And he said, ‘Tough fight, but Manny would be OK with it,” wika ni Arum.

“I never mentioned anything to Freddie about what Crawford wanted. We never even presented the fight to Crawford. Crawford didn’t ask me for five cents. We never talked about it,” dagdag pa ng veteran promoter.

Maraming mga boxing fans na umaasang maitatakda ang bakbakan nina Pacquiao at Crawford, itinuturing na susunod na Top Rank superstar.

Kamakailan ay sinabi ni Pacquiao na payag siyang labanan ang undefeated boxer para sa gua-ranteed purse na $20 milyon.

Ang naturang presyo ay isang senyales na ayaw labanan ni Pacquiao si Crawford.

Balak ni Arum na itakda ang susunod na pag-akyat ni Pacquiao ng boxing ring sa Abril 22 na posibleng gawin sa labas sa United States kagaya ng Australia kung saan nakabase si WBO welterweight contender Jeff Horn.

Ayon kay Arum, maaaring itakda ang laban nina Pacquiao at Crawford bago matapos ang taon.

Idinagdag ni Arum na walang hinihingi si Crawford para makaharap si Pacquiao.

“Nobody talked to Crawford about money, so the idea that Crawford somehow priced himself out of the fight is total [expletive]. I mean, it’s just unfair to Crawford. We have never negotiated with Crawford on a Pacquiao fight,” paliwanag pa ni Arum.

“If that [Pacquiao-Crawford] fight happens, like I said, it will happen later in the year. So it’s just not accurate and it’s unfair to Crawford,” dagdag pa nito.