Manny Pacquiao hopes to go out with a win next April, in what is said to be his last fight. Toward the top of the list as a possible opponent is Terrence Crawford. Crawford is fresh off another impressive win over Dierry Jean last week in Omaha, NE and could definitely use a fight against Pacquiao to break into mainstream. Unfortunately, without a fight against the likes of a Pacquiao, Crawford will have a hard time doing just that. Crawford, a counter puncher with power in both hands, is young, hungry, and motivated with his sole focus on being at the top of the fight game. That time has long passed for Pacquiao which makes Crawford a bad choice for the aging legend who seems to have more aspirations at this time in his life to be involved in politics and becoming a senator in the Philippines.
Pacquiao is also considering Amir Khan or a third fight with Timothy Bradley as possible opponents. Bradley is fresh off dominant win Saturday night in Las Vegas against an out of shape and washed up Brandon Rios. Rios was stopped for the first time in his career and was a big underdog; subsequently, he looked terrible and verbally retired after the fight when interviewed by HBO’s Max Kellerman. Take nothing away from Bradley; he did look good in his first fight with new trainer Teddy Atlas. Bradley and Pacquiao would be a rubber match but we have heard this song twice before, and I am not really sure what benefit a win for either fighter against each other does for boxing. Do us a favor Arum, and skip that track; I don’t want to hear this song again.
Another name, although highly unlikely, that has been mentioned as an opponent is Danny Garcia; promotions will make this fight very difficult to take place, particularly given Bob Arum appears to have Crawford at the top of the list and is not likely to deal with Al Haymon. Of all the possible opponents for Pacquiao, my pick would be Terrence Crawford, although I don’t think he should be Pacquiao’s choice as a final opponent if he hopes to go into the sunset with a win. I don’t think it is a stretch to say Crawford is a top ten pound for pound fighter (although you won’t find him on many lists just yet). A win over the popular Pacquiao would catapult the Nebraska native into conversations as a top five fighter and into boxing mainstream.
Run away Pacquiao; this one is bad for you. Should this fight happen, I see something similar to 1991 when Terry Norris dominated an aging fighter in Sugar Ray Leonard and easily won a unanimous decision. Not to slight Terry Norris, but Crawford has much more promise and is undefeated (27-0, 19 KO’s).