Multiple sources have confirmed to FightHype.com that a potential showdown between former world champions Manny Pacquiao and Adrien Broner is currently being finalized. Ironically, it was Golden Boy Promotions Vice President Eric Gomez who first hinted at the fight, telling Boxingscene.com, "We'd love to do a Pacquiao fight [for Canelo], but from what we hear, he has a deal to fight Adrien Broner." Shortly after that interview, Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, quickly shot down any talk of him fighting again, claiming Gomez's comment was "bullshit"!
"He just got sworn into the Senate and he has to see what his career looks like," Arum explained, but that didn't stop Gomez from doubling down on his comments. In a follow-up interview with Boxingscene.com, Gomez revealed that both he and Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya met with Bob Arum a couple of months ago at his home in Beverly Hills to discuss the possibility of making Canelo Alvarez vs. Manny Pacquiao. According to Gomez, however, they later received word that Pacquiao would be unavailable to fight Canelo, so they moved their plans in the direction of WBO jr. middleweight champion Liam Smith.
"Bob, he's getting pretty forgetful nowadays, but the fact is, he invited us to his house in Beverly Hills and we had lunch with him. In fact, he served us those fancy sandwiches they eat in Beverly Hills with no crust on them and we talked about doing Pacquiao and Canelo," Gomez explained. "But I do have it under good authority that [Pacquiao] is fighting Broner in an October pay-per-view. So he's going to be fighting a month after Canelo because he has September."
FightHype.com reached out to multiple sources connected to both Manny Pacquiao and Adrien Broner and contrary to what Arum claims, all of those sources tell us that there's "a lot of truth" in Gomez's comments. Although nothing is finalized, virtually everyone we spoke to did indeed confirm that Pacquiao vs. Broner is "definitely in the works," as one source put it.
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