Pacquiao agrees to fight Bradley in June

MANILA (Updated 2:13 p.m.) -- Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao agreed to defend his WBO welterweight title against unbeaten American boxer Timothy Bradley Jr. on June 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

ESPN.com said Pacquiao's adviser Michael Koncz confirmed the report after talking with Top Rank chief Bob Arum and Pacquiao himself.

"From our end, the fight is done," Koncz said.

"I just got off the phone with (Top Rank's) Bob Arum and Manny, so we're done. I don't assume there will be a problem from the Bradley side. We came to terms with Top Rank on the fight and Manny has approved everything. This morning I had a number of conversations with Bob negotiating the June 9 fight and I relayed everything to Manny," he added.

He, however, said the camp of Bradley still needs to finalize its deal with promoter Top Rank.

Top Rank president Todd duBoef also told ESPN.com that he is still working to finalize Bradley's end of the deal.

Bradley, 28, is the current World Boxing Organization light welterweight champion with an unbeaten 28-0 record with 12 knockouts. Facing Pacquiao could mean that he will move up a division higher to the welterweight division.

Pacquiao, on the other hand, holds a record of 54 wins, with three losses, two draws and 38 knockouts.

Earlier, renowned boxing trainer Freddie Roach said if Pacquiao doesn’t face Floyd Mayweather Jr. in his ring comeback, he believes that Bradley would be the best alternate.

Mayweather Jr. already booked a fight against Miguel Cotto on May 5 in a Cinco de Mayo matchup in Las Vegas.

"I think that we need some new blood in there, and Bradley poses a little bit of a problem," said Roach in a report posted at The Ring Magazine website. "So I would rather go with Tim Bradley than Miguel Cotto or somebody else."

Aside from Mayweather Jr., Bradley and Cotto, the other fighters that Pacquiao is considering are Lamont Peterson and Juan Manuel Marquez. (Sunnex)