Pacquiao to return in Crawford-Horn undercard?

MANILA, Philippines – Manny Pacquiao as an undercard fighter?

That thought is not out of the question as Top Rank Inc. boss Bob Arum is mulling to make Pacquiao fight in the same card that would feature the showdown between Terence Crawford and Jeff Horn this April.

Horn, who dethroned Pacquiao to become the WBO welterweight champion last year, will likely test his mettle against Crawford, the undisputed super lightweight king who’s willing to move up in weight for bigger fights.

Crawford and Horn could reportedly tangle either on April 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York City or April 21 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

And Pacquiao could be a part of it, either in the main event or the undercard.

“We’re working on an opponent (for Pacquiao),” Arum recently told the Las Vegas Review Journal.

ESPN will televise the bout in the US, just like it did when Pacquiao and Horn slugged it out in Brisbane, Australia last year.

If Pacquiao wins his comeback fight, he will likely take on the winner of Crawford-Horn.

But it would be intriguing if the 39-year-old Pacquiao — who is still a significant draw despite already being at the twilight of his career — would be willing to be an undercard fighter, something he hasn’t done for years.

The last time Pacquiao fought in the undercard was in 2005 when he knocked out Hector Velasquez at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. His rival Erik Morales saw action in the main event against Zahir Raheem.

The Filipino icon has since headlined all the boxing cards that featured his fights.

Arum, for his part, said everything is still up for discussion.

“Don’t want to be too premature about that, but we’re working on it as we speak. Pacquiao seems like he wants to come back, so we’re trying to get that finalized,” the veteran promoter explained.

“ESPN has a way to solve (the main event issue), so it will be very interesting when we announce it,” he added.

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