Pacquiao is too dangerous for Crawford, says Robert Garcia

By Boxing News - 11/05/2015 - Comments

Image: Pacquiao is too dangerous for Crawford, says Robert GarciaBy Dan Ambrose: Trainer Robert Garcia is in agreement with Top Rank promoter Bob Arum in feeling that WBO light welterweight champion Terence Crawford (27-0, 19 KOs) is an ideal opponent for former eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs) to finish his long 20-year pro career against next year on April 9th.

However, Garcia believes that Pacquiao still has too much left in the tank for the 28-year-old Crawford to deal with, and he thinks it would be a very risky fight for Crawford to take.

Right now, Crawford has been looking reasonably good in mismatches against the likes of Dierry Jean, Raymundo Beltran, Thomas Dulorme, Ricky Burns and Yuriorkis Gamboa. However, those are fighters that Pacquiao would beat even easier than Crawford beat them.

Crawford struggled against Dulorme and Gamboa. Those are guys that Pacquiao would destroy without any problems even now. Crawford stunk up the joint in his fights against Beltran and Burns in clinching them all night long.

“He’s [Crawford] the only one that will make sense [for Pacquiao] because even Brandon got Pacquiao after he fought [Mike] Alvarado,” Garcia said to esnewsreporting.com. “Chris Algieri got Pacquiao after he fought [Ruslan] Provodnikov. A lot of people thought Provodnikov won, so that’s a fight that makes the most sense for Pacquiao. If you’re talking about Top Rank fighters, then Crawford; I still think Pacquiao is too dangerous. People might think I’m wrong, but I think Pacquiao is a little too dangerous and might still be a big risk for Crawford,” said Garcia.

Pacquiao might prove to be too dangerous for Crawford, but that doesn’t mean the fight should be made. If there were no other options for Pacquiao to fight, then Crawford would be a good fight. But Pacquiao has the options of fighting guys like Amir Khan, Danny Garcia and the winner of the Tim Bradley vs. Brandon Rios fight. Those are much better options than fighting Crawford, who is only known by hardcore boxing fans.

“You have Viktor Postol, a 140 pounder. You also have Terence Crawford,” Garcia said. “Those guys are also possible. They also have Benavidez. So there are quite a few fighters from 140 that can possibly fight Brandon at a catch-weight of 145, 144, or we could fight at welterweight against other names that Top Rank might have or at a catch-weight below 154. That’s up to Cameron Dunkin,” Garcia said.

Rios could find himself fighting Crawford if Arum can’t get him a fight against the winner of the Miguel Cotto vs. Saul Canelo Alvarez fight.



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