Pacquiao says next fight will be in UAE, asks fans to pick opponent

Despite media reports that Manny Pacquiao has been set to take on Jeff Horn in Australia this April, it doesn’t seem that Pacquiao himself has got the memo. Pacquiao has sort of pumped the breaks on Bob Arum’s announcement that his next fight has set and has just announced, independently, that his next fight will take place in the UAE and asks fans to vote on the opponent.

In the poll Pacquiao lists Amir Khan, Jeff Horn, Kell Brook, and Terence Crawford as possible foes. This is pretty interesting since his promoter has gone on record specifically saying that Crawford wouldn’t be an option for Pacquiao in his next fight.

Kell Brook is due to make a mandatory title defense against Errol Spence Jr. next, with those negotiations still ongoing, so that also wouldn’t appear to be in the cards as a potential fight.

I am sure, however, that this news will also come much to Amir Khan’s delight as he has long awaited a big money fight with Pacquiao. As of now Khan is the overwhelming favorite in the fan poll with 47% of vote, and considering that UAE is the target destination for this fight (at least according to Pacquiao), Khan would likely make the most business sense.

Whatever the case may be, Pacquiao should probably get on the horn with Arum to sort out their plans if he is in fact targeting an April fight, which is fast approaching.