Pick my opponent, Pacquiao asks fans

MANILA — Manny Pacquiao on Monday asked his legions of Twitter followers to choose his opponent after announcing his next world title defense will be in the United Arab Emirates. “See you in UAE for my next fight. #TeamPacquiao” the WBO world welterweight champion tweeted, appearing to scupper reports that he would next fight Australia›s Jeff Horn in Brisbane in April. Pacquiao then posted a poll on his official Twitter feed asking his 108,000 followers to choose either Horn, Terence Crawford, Amir Khan or Kell Brook as his next opponent in the UAE. The poll had received more than 10,000 votes by Monday morning. A spokesman for Pacquiao told AFP he was due to meet his manager Michael Koncz later Monday and a statement about his next fight would be issued. Pacquiao›s promoter Bob Arum had been widely quoted last month in international media as saying that the boxing icon would be getting into the ring with the unbeaten Australian Horn in April and the Queensland tourism minister said they were in negotiations to host the bout. But Pacquiao, 38, posted on his social media accounts that he would be fighting instead in the Middle East and seemed to indicate that while his opponent could still be Horn it could also be one of three other world-class boxers — American Crawford or Britons Khan or Brook. Reports of a bout between Pacquiao and Horn had begun circulating last month but the Filipino southpaw said contracts had not been signed. “We are still negotiating about that. Nothing is really final, the date, who is the opponent. There are a lot of offers from other countries,” Pacquiao said last month. Pacquiao announced a brief retirement last year but made a successful comeback against Jessie Vargas in Las Vegas in November, saying he still felt like a youngster. The boxing hero initially said he was retiring to focus on his new role as Philippine senator after winning elections last year on the back of his sporting fame. Heavyweight boxer wins court case in US In a unanimous court decision, US heavyweight boxer Deontay Wilder has won his latest fight. A Manhattan federal jury found in his favor Monday as the World Boxing Council champion seeks $5 million for a fight that never happened against a Russian heavyweight challenger. The 31-year-old Tuscaloosa, Alabama, boxer was not in court when the nine-person jury returned its verdict after brief deliberations. Neither was the Russian boxer — Alexander Povetkin. The jury concluded Povetkin had used a performance-enhancing substance after it was banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency in early 2016. He tested negative for meldonium three times but then tested positive in a surprise test before the scheduled May fight, which was canceled. Povetkin›s lawyer, Kent Yakowitz, promised to appeal, calling the verdict “a true miscarriage of justice.”