By JM Siasat for GMA News

Countless observers were disappointed when Manny Pacquiao chose to fight Timothy Bradley for the third time in what could be his final bout on April 9 (April 10 PHL time) at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Prior to the announcement of Pacquiao vs. Bradley 3, however, Pacquiao’s Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach has revealed that they’ve also agreed to fight two-division world champion Terence Crawford.

“We did say yes to the boy from Omaha (Crawford) and I heard he said yes too, but I think Bob Arum may be protecting him a little bit right now because he may be his next ace in the hole,” Roach tells ontheropesboxing.com.

“Crawford is a very good fighter, I like him a lot but I don’t feel that he has the experience to beat Pacquiao right now. We did say yes to that fight but they said it wasn’t available, so we went to Bradley.”

While the consensus is that Crawford presents a more legitimate threat to Pacquiao, Roach says that Bradley happens to be a good test for the Filipino who is coming off a shoulder injury.

“Bradley will be a good test for Manny even though everyone tells me it’s his last pro fight and so forth, even Manny tells me that but I don’t really believe it,” said Roach.

“I think he will dominate the fight, and it’s the first time in a long time that he told me he wants to knock his opponent out, so that’s good news for me.”

====

MP8.PH Official Manny Pacquiao website and source for the latest news, pictures, videos, exclusive and authentic merchandise and memorabilia.