The boxing fans need not wait long as Manny Pacquiao's opponent for his possible swan song next year is set to be revealed this Friday night, according to Top Rank's Bob Arum.
Reports say the announcement will happen in a Top Rank card held in Puerto Rico which will be broadcasted by truTV.
Fighting in the event is Puerto Rico's own lightweight prodigy Felix Verdejo who will be taking on Brazil's Josenilson Dos Santos for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Latino lightweight title.
Expected opponents for Pacquiao are Timothy Bradley Jr., the unbeaten Terence Crawford, and British top contender Amir Khan.
The Los Angeles Times and ESPN suggested in their reports that Bradley (33–1–1, 13 KOs) would likely be the last opponent of Pacquiao in his 20-year boxing career.
Bradley and Pacquiao already met twice, with "Desert Storm" taking the first fight with a controversial split decision win, and the former eight-division champion succeeding in the second bout via unanimous decision.
The 32-year-old boxer is coming off a huge technical knockout win over Brandon Rios last November and if he gets to be the chosen one for Pacquiao's April 2016 bout, he will head to the possible rubber match riding a two-fight winning streak after also defeating Jessie Vargas earlier this year.
Dan Rafael of ESPN mentioned in his report that if Bradley is not announced as Pacquiao's opponent on Friday's card, it will be disrespectful to him since he is a commentator for truTV.
But Rafael added that according to Top Rank's Carl Moretti, Crawford is also in Puerto Rico this Friday and will be in the event, which sets up the possibility that he is about to be named as Pacquiao's next opponent.
Khan, who had talks with Arum earlier this year, seems to be falling behind in the race for the fight as negotiations started to go downhill in the past few weeks.
