Manny Pacquiao delays announcement of final opponent

Manny Pacquiao, the only boxer to win world titles in eight weight classes, has delayed the announcement of his next opponent for what is supposed to be his final bout on April 9 in Las Vegas.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said earlier this week that Pacquiao's opponent would be announced during the "MetroPCS Friday Night Knockout" card on truTV in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but a spokesman told ESPN.com those plans have been scrapped.

"I was asked to tell you on Bob's behalf that, unfortunately, Top Rank will not have an announcement on truTV as originally planned as Manny is not ready to make a decision on his opponent yet," Arum spokesman Fred Sternburg told ESPN on Thursday night.

According to ESPN, Pacquiao has been considering three leading candidates: welterweight titlist Timothy Bradley Jr. (33-1-1, 13 KOs) and junior welterweight titlist Terence Crawford (27-0, 19 KOs), both of whom are promoted by Top Rank, and long shot Amir Khan (31-3, 19 KOs), who is associated with Al Haymon and viewed by most as an unlikely opponent.

Pacquiao is coming off rotator cuff surgery after injuring his arm in a unanimous-decision loss to Floyd Mayweather in their May 2 fight, which shattered pay-per-view records and grossed more than $600 million.

Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs) has won world titles at flyweight, junior featherweight, featherweight, junior lightweight, lightweight, junior welterweight, welterweight and junior middleweight.

Pacquiao, who turns 37 next week, is a congressman but plans to run for one of 24 national senate seats in the Philippines.