Pacquiao vs Bradley: San Antonio Show Will Host Negotiations This Weekend

Bob Arum will be holding a negotiating session this weekend while in Texas with managers Cameron Dunkin and Michael Koncz during the Chavez vs Rubio event in San Antonio, hoping to at least get close to a deal for a June fight between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley.

From RingTV.com:

"Michael Koncz and Cameron and everybody will be in San Antonio. We're going there and I'm meeting with Cameron and Michael Koncz to see how far we can go toward wrapping up a Tim Bradley fight," said Arum, who promotes Pacquiao and Bradley.

"We're holding the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It's not finalized yet, but they're both our fighters, and we're hoping that we can get it done, and we think that we can get it done."

Koncz stresses again that Bradley isn't the only option, mentioning Juan Manuel Marquez and Lamont Peterson, but let's be real: Pacquiao vs Bradley is the only option right now. Arum is hoping to put Marquez and Peterson together for a July fight at Cowboys Stadium.

Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KO) and Bradley (28-0, 12 KO) both last fought on November 12. Pacquiao, of course, escaped with a narrow and debated win over Marquez, while Bradley sent home viewers to the kitchen for a snack during his snoozer against washed-up Joel Casamayor.

Bradley, 28, is a very good opponent for Pacquiao. He's in his prime, he's a good fighter, he's smart, and he's the best 140-pound fighter in the world. Top Rank would no doubt have preferred to hold off on this idea, but it hasn't worked out that way, and Arum and Co. seem to understand that. In a perfect world, they'd have built Tim Bradley up more under their banner (the Casamayor fight was his Top Rank debut) and tried to find him a fanbase and an audience.

But with Miguel Cotto signing to fight Floyd Mayweather, that's just not in the cards. It's going to be Pacquiao vs Bradley unless something big changes.