In his 17-year-long professional boxing career, there are only two fights that Terence Crawford has desperately wanted. He will finally be getting his dream retirement match against Canelo Alvarez after years of trying. However, his wish to fight the only eight-division champion in boxing, Manny Pacquiao, never materialized despite being part of the same promotion, Top Rank, for years and being around the same weight class.
Talk of a Crawford-Pacquiao showdown peaked twice. First, in 2016, a 28-year-old Bud wanted to make a big name for himself. And second, in 2021, the Nebraskan wanted to defend his WBO welterweight title against the PacMan. Sadly, the talks fell apart both times. The 2021 bout held less allure, given how the Filipino icon was on his last legs. However, that 2016 clash, when the duo could still fight at 140 lbs, would have been magnificent. It could have been an era-defining clash between the rising star and an icon, something boxing fans would have loved. But it never happened. Why?
Reports varied, but in 2019, Top Rank head honcho Bob Arum accepted that he “killed the fight.” Deeply protective of Pacquiao, Arum feared Crawford’s dominance. “It would end in serious disability for Manny, that I wouldn’t know. But as a fight, it would only end one way,” he stated, in an interview with Marcos Villegas of Fight Hub TV. What is quite surprising is the fact that at the time, even Crawford was under Top Rank.
Well, with this explanation, things should have been enough. However, one thing still remains. We never heard from the man who lost his shot at glory—Terence Crawford. In a recent interview with NFL legend Shannon Sharpe, the 37-year-old talked about one of the biggest regrets of his career and how he felt betrayed by those who denied him the fight.
During the conversation, Sharpe asked, “You wanted to fight Manny Pacquiao. I think you were like 27-28 when you wanted Pac. Why didn’t that fight happen?” Crawford leaned back. “I hear so many excuses like they didn’t want it,” he lamented.
Source: Imago
The 41-0 boxer recounted how Pacquiao’s long-term trainer, Freddy Roach, voiced his concerns in 2016. Roach told Fight Hub that Bob Arum can easily make the fight happen. However, PacMan’s age and Bud’s rapid rise in the division made it tricky. Even Roach was worried about the damage his fighter would take. “Well, Freddy Roach on the record saying he didn’t want Pacquiao to fight for one. And I just think Top Rank wanted to protect Pacquiao because of the money issue. You know, that was their cash cow,” Crawford explained. “But hell, you could have been their cash cow,” Sharpe interjected.
“They didn’t want to mess up the money that they was getting from Pacquiao at the time. So other reasons, I don’t know,” he said, claiming that in the end it was all about money. However, Shannon Sharpe probed further, wanting to know more.
Terence Crawford sacrificed for a bigger cash cow
Crawford recalled his 2015 stoppage of Dierry Jean, Pacquiao’s sparring partner, meant to build hype.“So I fought Dierry Jean, and they said that was the marketing tool. Crawford beat Dierry Jean, he’s going to you know potentially fight Manny Pacquiao. Dierry Jean was one of Pacquiao’s sparring partners. I stopped Dierry Jean and he was like, ‘I don’t know if I want to fight him,’ so I had to move on,” Crawford concluded.
Well, here you have it. A blockbuster fight that never happened. A legacy-defining bout between the past and future of the division that never happened. Knowing Manny Pacquiao, he would have never rejected the bout. So, who can we blame for this missed opportunity? Not Bob Arum, who was simply protecting his and his fighter’s interests. In the end, it all boiled down to timing. Had the stars aligned two years sooner, we might have witnessed this monumental showdown.
What do you think about Manny Pacquiao vs. Terence Crawford? Who would have won? Let us know your thoughts down below.
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