Bob Arum Talks Manny Pacquiao Return Date, Terence Crawford, Jessie Vargas, More

Manny Pacquiao will return to the ring on November 5 in Las Vegas, according to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, despite having confirmed his retirement after his April welterweight defeat of Timothy Bradley. 

Per the Los Angeles Times' Lance Pugmire, Arum said WBO junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford, WBC champion Viktor Postol and WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas are all in the mix to be Pacquiao's opponent at either the MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay or the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Arum added that much would depend on whether the 37-year-old Filipino has the time to drop the weight to compete at light welterweight given that he is currently serving his first six-year term as a senator in the Philippines, per Pugmire.

"A lot of it depends on if Manny wants to go down to 140," Arum said. "If he decides to go to 140 and Crawford wins, that could be the fight, but if he says no, says, 'Because of the Senate, I’m not going to be able to get down to 140 comfortably,' then he’ll fight against Vargas."

Per HBO Boxing, Crawford, 28, faces Postol on Saturday at the MGM Grand; thus, the currently unbeaten Ukrainian could become the front-runner if he manages to prevail:

Undefeated WBC welterweight champion Danny Garcia is another name that many would expect to be on the list of potential Pac-Man opponents, but Arum ruled the American out of contention, per Pugmire: "Nobody’s ever called me about Garcia. Garcia’s saying he wants more money. Who’s he talking to?"

In a Twitter poll carried out by ESPN.com's Dan Rafael, Garcia came out as the most popular potential opponent for Pacquiao:

But, per boxing writer Steve Kim, there are clearly financial concerns for the 28-year-old:

Pac-Man's return is hardly surprising, not least because he was excellent in his unanimous-decision victory over Bradley three months ago.

It was his third fight against the American, and second victory, following a controversial split-decision win in Bradley's favour in their first meeting.

Per Rafael, Arum potentially lost "upwards of $10 million" on Pacquiao-Bradley III as there was little appetite to see the pair fight again, and he could face a similar hit if he sets the eight-division champion up against Vargas given the 27-year-old's relative lack of public profile.

Thus the most likely next opponent for Pacquiao is surely Crawford, as long as he can get past Postol.