Bob Arum: Terence Crawford Will Fight Manny Pacquiao or Errol Spence Jr. in 2021

Terence Crawford's next contract is sure to be a super-fight. The only question is whether or not he'll face a current contender or a former one.  

According to ESPN's Cameron Wolfe, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum is going to pit Crawford against Errol Spence Jr. or Manny Pacquiao in 2021. 

"The next fight is going to be, as far as I can control things, we're not going to fool around, it's going to be Pacquiao or Spence," Arum told Wolfe on Friday.

Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs), the No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer in ESPN's rankings, is set to face Kell Brook (39-2, 27 KOs) next Saturday but one of the sport's top promoters is already looking ahead to who his prize fighter could face next. 

If it's Pacquiao, Crawford will be stepping into the ring against a 42-year-old coming off a nearly two-year hiatus after defeating Keith Thurman in July 2019 for the WBA welterweight title. Spence, 30, is set to make his first appearance in the ring since September 2019 next month when he faces Danny Garcia at AT&T Stadium to defend his WBC and IBF welterweight titles. 

Should both Crawford and Spence (26-0, 21 KOs) win their upcoming fights, a potential bout would pit two undefeated stars against each other, giving the sport one of it's most epic match-ups in years. 

According to Arum, Crawford is looking for increased revenue on his Top Rank contract, which a bout against Pacquiao or Spence would help deliver. The promoter is confident that big of a fight would be more than enough to keep one of his top athletes content and uninterested in leaving Top Rank—even if it meant working with PBC's Al Haymon to get a Spence deal done.

"It's to everybody's benefit for us to do it together," Arum said. "If the fighters want guarantees, I think Haymon would be reluctant to face that bill himself. If it cratered, he would lose a lot money. This way he would have a partner in the money."