Timothy Bradley Jr. had been a name included in the trimmed down list of possible opponents for Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao until his name was somehow dropped recently.
Before his match with Brandon Rios last Nov. 7, Desert Storm had seemed to be pressured to put on a good show to somehow get attention from the Pacquiao camp once more. A win would have been great but if he wanted a possible ticket to Pacquiao's last dance, no less than an impressive performance could catapult his name back alongside Amir Khan and Terence Crawford.
That part was satisfied splendidly by Bradley when he defeated Rios by total knockout (TKO), but it remains to be seen if his name could wiggle its way in between Khan and Crawford next.
One figure from the Pacquiao camp who was around for the Bradley vs. Rios fight was Bob Arum. The Top Rank promoter did say that he was treated to perhaps the best Bradley brand of boxing so far, although it remains to be seen if that would lead to something more.
Unofficially, the frontrunner seems to be Terence Crawford, with that impressive show he had over Dierry Jean recently. Khan would have been an idle opponent only that the Briton has been idle for some time, his last fight coming way back in May against Chris Algieri whom he beat via unanimous decision.
A wild forecast on how the three stand right now would still probably see Crawford up front, with Bradley catapulting himself in the second spot and Khan sliding down to third. Regardless of rankings, the final decision will be up to Pacquiao.
And that decision is expected to come out any time soon. Pacquiao was expected to announce his next opponent either this November or December; so now, the world awaits.
Pacquiao's last dance will be held on April 9, 2016 before he makes the jump from boxing to the senate, in case he gets elected into senate office. It will be his first time to compete since undergoing shoulder surgery after that May 2 fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr.
