Eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao is recovering from his surgery that repaired a shoulder injury suffered while training earlier this year for his bout against Floyd Mayweather but his promoter, Top Rank's Bob Arum, is already planning his next opponent.
There is no doubt that Pacquiao's camp is looking to push for a rematch with Mayweather after the unbeaten champion handed him a unanimous decision loss last May.
Mayweather said after the fight that he is willing to grant a rematch but later revoked his statements after feeling that the Filipino slugger's camp was using the shoulder injury as an excuse for the loss.
If all else fails and no agreement for a rematch against Mayweather will be reached, Arum wants his prized boxer to take on another undefeated champion in the much younger Terence Crawford.
"He's [Pacquiao] going to go right to an elite fighter. I would rather him fight Terence Crawford. The money that was made in the last fight [against Mayweather], and a rematch wouldn't do as well, but it would still do tremendous, bigger than any other fight," Arum told ESNEWS.
"I think that if the Mayweather people want the rematch, we would be willing to do it," he added.
Crawford just won the vacant WBO Light Welterweight championship last April beating Thomas Dulorme via TKO to improve his record to 26-0, 18 KOs.
A Pacquiao-Crawford bout will be hard to sell for Arum while Mayweather has been linked to a fight with Amir Khan following the Brit's recent unanimous decision win over Chris Algieri.
If Arum wants a fight that will sell and make a huge impact for Pacquiao, he should be looking to set up bouts against Khan, Gennady Golovkin, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, Marcos Maidana, Miguel Cotto or Kell Brook.
Pacquiao fighting Crawford will only benefit the 27-year-old as he tries to carve his own path to greatness and will not help his cause in campaigning for a rematch against Mayweather.
As his trainer Freddie Roach said, the Filipino boxing icon can get another shot at Mayweather if he beats a big name in his next fight.
