By Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao says Errol Spence Jr is slower than his last opponent Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman, but he’s still interested in facing the unified welterweight champion potentially after he takes on Conor McGregor in 2021.
The former eight-division world champion Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) says he plans on fighting twice this year against McGregor and either Spence or Terence Crawford.
Other than the mismatch with McGregor, Pacquiao will be heading towards which figures to be a guaranteed loss against Spence of Crawford.
Pacquiao hasn’t fought for close to two years since his narrow 12 round split decision victory over previously undefeated Thurman (29-1, 22 KOs) in July 2019.
Manny says Spence is “Too slow”
“He [Spence] is too slow,” Pacquiao said to BusinessMirror. “Spence is slower than Thurman but it’s going to be a good fight,”
“They’re my options, but right now I want to experience fighting an MMA [Conor McGregor],” said Pacquiao.
It’s likely that Pacquiao will opt for a fight against Spence rather than Terence Crawford, seeing that there’s a lot more money to be made against him. Spence is a pay-per-view fighter, Crawford is not.
Pacquiao shouldn’t kid himself when he talks about Spence’s lack of hand speed. This guy would likely handle Thurman with ease, and it wouldn’t be competitive.
It’s likely that Spence will destroy Pacquiao if that fight is made, it could end badly for the Filipino star. Thurman would be an easy fight for Spence, and that tells how over-matched Pacquiao will be against ‘The Truth.’
The punishment Pacquiao was taking against the past his prime Thurman was troubling, especially in the later rounds. Thurman was putting hands on Pacquiao, and it was looking bad until Manny hurt him with a body shot in the 10th. Even then, Thurman finished strong in the 11th and 12th.
Is Pacquiao too small and old for Spence?
The Filipino star was lucky to get the win, as he faded badly in the second half of the contest. If not for Pacquiao’s fast early start, which included a first-round knockdown of Thurman, he might have lost.
Pacquiao is too small and old for him to have a chance against Spence. But this has nothing to do with age, though. Pacquiao would likely lose to Spence no matter what age he fought him at.
There’s a tremendous difference in power, size, and ability. Spence can do a lot of different things that would have troubled Pacquiao no matter what stage of his career.
IBF/WBC welterweight champion Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) is a lot bigger, stronger, and younger than Pacquiao. the only way a fight between them is competitive is if Spence fights Pacquiao’s game by standing in front of him and slugging.
But even if Spence fights that way, he’s going to be too powerful and big for the 42-year-old Pacquiao. Any way you twist it, Pacquiao is going to get battered, beaten, and likely knocked out.
Pacquiao is finally pulling the trigger on his match against UFC star McGregor, a fight that has been talked about for two years. There’s a lot of money to be made for both fighters, which figures to be about as competitive as Floyd Mayweather’s exhibition fight with Logan Paul.
McGregor (0-1) has fought only once in a boxing match in losing to Mayweather by a 10th round knockout in August 2017. Mayweather admitted afterward that he’d carried McGregor to the tenth by taking it easy on him, and it looked that way.
Pacquiao can make good money fighting McGregor, but the fight won’t interesting because the Irish fighter has no ability when it comes to boxing. He would likely lose to YouTuber Jake Paul, which tells you little ability he has.
MP Promotions president picking Pacquiao to beat Spence
“I think Spence lost a step from the accident,” said Manny Pacquiao Promotions President Sean Gibbons. “It’s a difficult fight but I think, yes [Manny will defeat Spence].”
You can’t expect Gibbons to go against his fighter Pacquiao, but he sounds like he’s being disingenuous when he talks about him potentially beating Spence. Pacquiao will be totally over-matched against Spence, and it’s basically a cash-put retirement fight for the Filipino star.