Viktor Postol was expected to give Terence Crawford the toughest fight of his career. Instead, Crawford knocked Postol down twice, stunned him on numerous other occasions, and won a surprisingly wide unanimous decision on Saturday night to keep his undefeated record intact and to become the recognized junior welterweight champion.
Based on the opponent, who sported an identical 28-0 record before the fight began, and based on the fact he was headlining his first pay-per-view card, Crawford?s victory Saturday night was one of the finest of his life.
Afterward, Postol?s trainer, Freddie Roach ? who was happy before the fight to show off his betting slip that predicted a Postol knockout victory ? was stunned at Crawford?s performance.
?His speed was just unbelievable. He was just too fast,? Roach said, via USA Today. ?He surprised me with his talent.?
Crawford now wants to use that talent to lure Manny Pacquiao back into the ring. Pacquiao is set to return in late October or early November, and it?d make sense for Crawford, the man ranked No. 7 and rising on the Forbes Top 10 Pound-For-Pound Moneymakers list, to face Pacquiao at No. 9. Recommended by Forbes
Crawford, though, has made it clear that he won?t move up in weight. A Pacquiao fight, he said, would have to be at the 140-pound junior welterweight limit, and the last time Pacquiao fought at that weight was when he knocked out Ricky Hatton in 2009.
That said, a fight with Pacquiao isn?t a clear-cut decision (welterweight titlist Jessie Vargas ? who lost out on a reported $2 million payday when he couldn?t come to an agreement with Kell Brook, who?s now moving up in weight to battle Gennady Golovkin ? also is a possibility for Pacquiao).
That said, here are the four fighters Crawford should fight next ? none of whom, it should be noted, are junior welterweights.
Manny Pacquiao (58-6-2, 38 knockouts): Not only is Pacquiao still a superstar and still makes for a solid pay-per-view attraction, he still has the talent of a top-10 pound-for-pound fighter, as evidenced by his unanimous decision victory against Tim Bradley last April. Let?s face it. This is a no-brainer for Crawford and his team ? for the money he?d make and for the notoriety he?d gain in beating a legend like Pacquiao. Crawford very well could be the betting favorite against Pacquiao.
?We haven?t seen Pacquiao fight someone that can switch and be equally effective as a lefty as he is at righty, so Pacquiao would have more of a puzzle to figure out,? HBO boxing analyst Roy Jones said, via Boxing News 24. ?We also know that Pacquiao has been taken out a few times by some really big punchers. Crawford is a really big puncher.? As Crawford told Forbes recently, ?I know I can be the next superstar. I know I have the talent and skills to be one of the best.? Beating Pacquiao would prove that.
Keith Thurman (27-0, 22 KOs): Coming off his recent victory against Shawn Porter, Thurman has established himself as the one of the top welterweights in the world. But despite his undefeated record, he?s also shown some vulnerabilities. He?s been hurt in past fights, and though Crawford?s power could be a little less effective if he moves up a weight class, a shaky Thurman chin would be an advantage for Crawford. Plus, Crawford?s speed would likely offset Thurman?s quickness. This would probably be a fun match to watch, and with two young American stars involved, it could do well on PPV.
Danny Garcia (32-0, 18 KOs): Crawford and Garcia know each other well. They fought twice in the amateur ranks ? Garcia won the first battle, and Crawford took the second ? and it?s a matchup Garcia, who?s now a welterweight titlist, has considered in the past.
But whether Garcia is a big enough name to make this a worthwhile risk for Crawford is unclear. Then again, Postol?s name was virtually unrecognizable to a large percentage of American fight fans, and that clearly didn?t matter to Crawford.
Errol Spence Jr. (20-0, 17 KOs): The young American prospect was so impressive in stopping Chris Algieri last November that it?s easy to fantasize that Spence might already be the best welterweight in the world. A matchup against Spence would probably be Crawford?s biggest test of anybody on this list ? moving up in weight to take on a heavy-handed boxer-puncher like Spence could spell doom for Crawford?s undefeated record. That means it probably won?t happen until Spence has enough name recognition to guarantee Crawford plenty of money whether he wins or loses.
