Pacquiao-Crawford = “Nonsense” says MP Promotions chief

By Boxing News - 03/31/2021 - Comments

By Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao WON’T be fighting Terence Crawford next, according to MP Promotions chief Sean Gibbons, who says it’s nothing but blabber. WBO welterweight champion Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) will be fighting someone, but his name won’t be Pacquiao, that’s for sure.

The reports earlier this week painted a pie-in-the-sky picture of a mega-fight between Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) and Crawford taking place on June 5th in Abu Dhabi. It’s not the end of the world for Crawford, but it is a massive disappointment and a wake-up call.

According to the report, the Pacquiao-Crawford fight HAD to take place in Abu Dhabi, and none of this was confirmed by Arum, MP Promotions, or Pacquiao. Unfortunately, Sean Gibbons, the President of MP Promotions, says that it’s just guff.

“[This is] Bob Arum and Mike Koncz nonsense,” said MP Promotions president Gibbons to Inquier.net about Pacquiao supposedly fighting Crawford next in June.

I do not believe that is happening.

All that time wasted by Crawford trying to get a fight against Pacquiao, and now he has nothing to show for it. Chris Williams knew this was going to happen.

That’s why Crawford should have come to his senses a long time ago and saw what time it is and realize there wasn’t going to be any Pacquiao fight.

Image: Pacquiao-Crawford = "Nonsense" says MP Promotions chief

If Crawford had separated himself from the process and looked at it in a detached, clinical way, he would have understood right from the jump that Pacquiao wasn’t going to fight him.

Crawford’s promoter Bob Arum seemed pretty confident this week that he had a “MAJOR fight” that he would announce “within a week” for Bud. So if it’s not going to be Pacquiao that Crawford will be fighting, who will it be?

You can’t call Josesito Lopez a “Major fight” for Crawford, and that’s the guy that is rumored to be his next opponent. Crawford told Shawn Porter to “standby” recently when he was badgering him on whining on social media about wanting a fight with him, but that might have been his way of telling him to ‘buzz off.’

We’re right back to where we started from now that the Pacquiao vs. Crawford fight has turned out to be a bunch of baloney. Crawford will need to face his WBO mandatory Shawn Porter.

If Crawford takes the fight with Porter, he’d be ready for a survival of the fittest type of fight because it might end up being his worst nightmare come true.

Crawford has had things really easy all these years with Top Rank putting him with guys that have no inside fighting skills, and little in the way of talent. Porter is going to be a different story, and Crawford might not be ready for the reality shock that he’ll be in for.

Since Crawford seems to have nothing to do with Porter, here his options:

  • Vergil Ortiz Jr
  • Errol Spence
  • Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman
  • Danny Garcia
  • Josesito Lopez
  • Jessie Vargas
  • Jermell Charlo
  • Gennadiy Golovkin
  • Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis
  • Brian Castano

Thurman’s $10 million price tag for a Crawford fight might scare away Arum, but if he’s willing to entertain ‘One Time,’ it’s a match that would make a lot of noise.

Thurman would do all the hard work in promoting the fight by giving countless interviews, trash-talking Crawford nonstop, and basically do carry him to the fight.

I couldn’t resist throwing in GGG, Charlo, and Castano. If Crawford is desperate enough to do anything to get a big fight, he should be ready to move up to 154 or 160 to make something big happen.

Crawford might get lucky against GGG or Charlo and pull off a massive upset. Even Castano would be a good match-up, as long as Crawford is ready for a long trench warfare battle for 12 rounds.

Castano will force Terence to fight in the trenches, where it will be blood, fierce, and brutal.