By Chris Williams: Showing signs of frustration, Terence Crawford confronted superstar Manny Pacquiao on social media Friday, asking him if he thinks about winning back his WBO 147-lb title that he lost to Jeff Horn in 2017.
Crawford (35-0, 26 KOs) didn’t come right out directly and ask Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) for a fight, but he made it patently clear that he wants a fight against him. If there was ever a chance Crawford would get the fight with Manny, it evaporated when he left Top Rank.
Crawford sounding needy right now
Pacquiao, 40, doesn’t appear to be too bothered about losing his WBO welterweight title to Horn. The loss was a controversial 12 round decision in Brisbane, Australia two years ago. The boxing public has already negated that win by Horn, and viewing it as a cooked hometown decision.
Manny has other options on the table like facing the winner of the Errol Spence Jr. vs. Shawn Porter fight, as well as fights against Vasiliy Lomachenko, Mikey Garcia and Naoya Inoue. Those matches could easily eat up the next two years for Manny. By the time Pacquiao is done with all those fights, he’ll be ready for a soft retirement in the Philippines. He wants to become president of that country, and he can’t stay around forever fighting desperate guys that can’t get fights.
@MannyPacquiao with all do respect do you ever think about getting yo title back that you lost to @jeffhornboxer been that you felt you won that fight?
— Terence Crawford (@terencecrawford) August 30, 2019
Crawford recently re-signed with Top Rank
In a move that some boxing fans view as self-defeating, Crawford re-signed with Top Rank. What that move did was ensure that Crawford would likely not get a fight against the top PBC fighters like Spence, Porter, Pacquiao and Mikey Garcia. Crawford showed loyalty to Top Rank, and re-upped with them, and now he’s not getting the fights that he wants. Not getting any younger at 31, Crawford is left with dismal options.
Things could have been different, but Crawford boxed himself in with that move. He expected that the PBC fighters would want to cross the pond to fight him. Now 11 years in as a pro, Crawford has to realize that it’s not happening. Whatever vision Crawford had of guys like Pacquiao and Spence fighting him has turned out to be a castle in the air.
Crawford’s next fight on December 14 is expected to be against mandatory Egidijus Kavaliauskas, who recently fought to a draw against Ray Robinson. That’s a step down for Crawford from his previous fight against Amir Khan last April, and that was a mismatch. Khan is seen as an over-the-hill fighter, and not one of the elite guys at 147.
When the PBC guys get done fighting each other, one or two of them may be tempted to fight Crawford. It would likely be a situation where the fighter is nearing retirement like we saw with Khan in facing Crawford.
Crawford might not get Pacquiao fight even if he signs with PBC
It’s probable Pacquiao still wouldn’t fight him if he inked with PBC, because it’s not a good style match-up. Crawford has three strikes against him as far as getting Pacquiao fight. They are as follows:
- Ability to fight southpaw
- His high degree of mobility
- Counter-puncher
Those are just three reasons why Pacquiao won’t fight Crawford, but you can at least three more reasons:
- Top Rank
- Fights on another network [ESPN] than Pacquiao
- Makes his opponents look bad by taunting them
On top of that, Crawford doesn’t have a charismatic personality that would attract a lot of boxing fans. Pacquiao’s last opponent Keith Thurman did all the promotion by himself with his trash talking, and Manny didn’t have to do anything. Crawford doesn’t have the personality to sell a fight like Thurman, and there’s nothing wrong with that. He’s not outgoing like Thurman, and never will be. So if Pacquiao were to fight Crawford, neither of them could step forward to reel the fans in.
That’s why it would be better for Crawford to focus on fighting the guys that his promoters can put in with him. Obviously, Pacquiao isn’t one of them, and neither is Keith Thurman, Spence, and Danny Garcia.