Top Rank promoter Bob Arum bared that the proposed mega-bout between Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao and WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford did not materialize due to money woes.
Arum revealed that the terms had already been reached but the money intended to push the fight was nowhere to find.
"Look, what happened to us in Abu Dhabi was we had signed contracts and everything and they were supposed to put up the money," Arum told boxingscene.com. "Well, I’ve been waiting two weeks for the money. Nobody put up the money after promising they would.
"Both (Pacquiao and Crawford) had agreed and we had a signed agreement from this group in Abu Dhabi subject to the money getting put up by the Abu Dhabi government."
The report was somehow in line with the earlier development from Mike Coppinger of The Athletic.
Coppinger, who also first broke news about the Abu Dhabi fight last March 31, said "it appears all but dead after the funding from Abu Dhabi investors never came through."
Coppinger's report, however, contrasted the part where Crawford didn't sign his contract.
"Pacquiao signed his contract but Crawford never did. Now it looks like it doesn’t matter that Crawford didn’t sign," Coppinger said earlier.
As the Pacquiao-Crawford went into naught, two welterweights in Mikey Garcia and unified IBF and WBC titleholder Errol Spence are on the radar for the eight-division world boxing champion.
Per ESPN Knockout, July would be the target month for the Pacquiao-Spence bout.
On the contrary, Pacquiao’s business manager, Arnold Vegafria, said the Filipino boxing legend is likely to face Garcia, a four-division champion, in Dubai later this year.
The 42-year-old Pacquiao has not fought since scoring a split decision win over Keith Thurman in July 2019 to improve up at 62-7-2 record on top of 39 knockouts.
The Filipino boxer-turned-senator was stripped of his WBA super welterweight belt and was declared “champion in recess” due to inactivity in late January.
Arum, meanwhile, is still firm to push a fight for Crawford and vowed that the WBO champion will return by September against a non-Top Rank boxer.