By Keith Idec

Bob Arum intends to again present Terence Crawford as an option for Manny Pacquiao’s next fight.

If Pacquiao and his trainer, Freddie Roach, continue to pass on a Crawford fight, Arum won’t let failed negotiations for a Pacquiao-Adrien Broner bout earlier this year deter him from trying to make a Crawford-Broner battle in 2017.

“Broner would be good,” Arum told BoxingScene.com. “That would be an interesting fight for Crawford. You’ve got to understand, I don’t hold it against anybody who’s negotiating a contract, even if they ask for a crazy amount of money. They’re not violating any contract by doing that, so whatever it is it is.

“I would certainly talk to Al [Haymon] about the possibility of him fighting Crawford, should Crawford not fight Pacquiao. Then it would be up to Al to deliver him for a correct price.”

A source with knowledge of the negotiations confirmed to BoxingScene.com that Broner sought a $4 million guarantee to fight Pacquiao (59-6-2, 38 KOs) last year, plus a portion of the pay-per-view revenue. It was widely reported that the former three-division champion wanted a $6 million guarantee, plus pay-per-view upside, though the aforementioned source said that is not true.

Crawford capped an impressive 2016 on Saturday night by knocking out John Molina Jr. in the eighth round in Omaha, Nebraska, Crawford’s hometown. The unbeaten WBC/WBO super lightweight champion made $1.5 million for facing Molina (29-7, 23 KOs) and doesn’t figure to fight again until sometime in the spring.

A 140-pound title fight against Broner is an attractive alternative to Pacquiao for Crawford (30-0, 20 KOs), who doesn’t have many high-profile options within his weight class. When asked by HBO’s Max Kellerman on Saturday night who he would like to fight if a Pacquiao showdown doesn’t materialize, Crawford mentioned a rematch against Scotland’s Ricky Burns (41-5-1, 14 KOs), the WBA world super lightweight title-holder, and newly crowned IBF super lightweight champion Julius Indongo (21-0, 11 KOs).

Neither a fight against Burns, whom Crawford beat by unanimous decision to win the WBO world lightweight title in March 2014 in Glasgow, nor a bout with Indongo would earn Crawford nearly as much money or attention as boxing Broner.

The polarizing Broner (32-2, 24 KOs) is scheduled to end what will be a 10-month layoff against Adrian Granados (18-4-2, 12 KOs) on February 11 in Chattanooga, Tennessee (Showtime).

If Broner beats Granados, who upset then-unbeaten Amir Imam last year, and a Pacquiao-Crawford fight doesn’t happen, Arum would explore a Crawford-Broner bout.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.