Manny Pacquiao should avoid in his next fight both IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr and WBO welterweight title-holder Terence Crawford, says former long-time promoter Bob Arum.
Pacquiao, 40, was ringside in Dallas on Saturday night to watch Spence Jr, 29, ease to a unanimous decision win against four-division champion Mikey Garcia.
Immediately after the bout, and with Pacquiao alongside him in the ring, the undefeated American called out the Filipino as a potential summer opponent, to which Pacquiao replied “Yes, why not?” - albeit somewhat reluctantly.
The fight seems an obvious one to make given the two boxers are part of the Premier Boxing Champions stable, together with a number of high-profile welterweights, including WBC world champion Shawn Porter, WBA champion Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia.
Crawford, meanwhile, belongs to Arum's Top Rank, providing a significant obstacle to a possible match-up with Pacquiao. The undefeated American, currently second in the pound-for-pound rankings, takes on England's Amir Khan next month.
However, Top Rank chief executive Arum does not envisage a fight with Pacquiao will follow, warning the eight-division world champion against the dangers of taking on a man nine years his junior.
"Manny doesn't really want to fight Crawford,” Arum told BoxingScene.com. “And the question is - should he? It's not like he's a spring chicken, he's a guy in his 40s and that means something.
“A guy in his 40s can run the risk of injury, where a guy in his 30s wouldn't run that risk ... cranium is different and everything, so I wouldn't like Manny to fight either Crawford or Spence.
"I think that's a bridge too far. I think if you put him in with a Porter - Porter is not an elite welterweight and Manny can probably handle him or not get hurt - that would be an OK fight. Or Danny Garcia who doesn't punch very hard, that would be a good fight for Manny. But Crawford or Spence is a bridge too far, truthfully."
Speculation persists that Pacquiao could yet be set for a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr, with the pair pictured together on Saturday at the AT&T Stadium. The two met in 2015, when Mayweather, now retired, won on a unanimous decision. Pacquiao last fought in January, sealing a comfortable points victory against Adrien Broner to retain the WBA welterweight belt.