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Pacquiao agrees to fight Bradley on June 9
ESPN staff
February 7, 2012
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Timothy Bradley is Manny Pacquiao's chosen opponent
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Manny Pacquiao has agreed to fight Timothy Bradley on June 9 subject to the American's agreement, promoter Bob Arum has confirmed.
Bradley was on a shortlist of three fighters - including Lamont Peterson and Juan Manuel Marquez - to fight Pacquiao, after a super-fight with Floyd Mayweather Jnr failed to materialise and a deal could not be reached with Miguel Cotto.
Arum has now confirmed that it is Bradley - the current WBO light-welterweight belt-holder - who will fight the Filipino for his WBO welterweight crown in Las Vegas this summer, as long as he can reach an agreement with the fighter.
"It's subject to us reaching the appropriate [financial] deal with Tim Bradley," said Arum. "I'm very optimistic I'll get it done, but right now it's just not done."
Pacquiao will be in Las Vegas on February 18 to attend a celebration for Muhammad Ali's 70th birthday, and Arum hopes to have all the details sorted by then so promotion can begin immediately.
"I can plan to do the [press] tour with Manny and Bradley right after the 18th because I don't want Manny to come over here [for the Ali celebration] and then go back and bring him over again," Arum said. "It's a long trip so I'd like to knock it off while he's here. My goal is to get the thing done in the next few days."
Bradley has frequently expressed an interest in fighting Pacquiao, despite previously declining bouts with fellow light-welterweight Amir Khan.
"I don't think there's a question [that Bradley wants to fight Pacquiao]," Arum said. "The question is reaching the right financial terms. I'm not saying it's going to be difficult or not, but it's unfair to [Bradley] because I haven't even started."
Cotto is set to face Mayweather in May - while Peterson could now end up fighting Marquez on the undercard of the Pacquiao-Bradley meeting.
© ESPN EMEA Ltd
