Immediately after two-time world champion Terence ?Bud? Crawford?s dominant victory over Dierry Jean on Saturday night, the details of a potential megafight with Manny Pacquiao were put on the table.
The Filipino icon, boxing?s only eight-division champion, will fight one more time April 9 before hanging up his gloves and turning his attention toward his political career back in the Philippines.
According to promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank, the future Hall of Famer will pick his final opponent.
Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 knockouts) has earned that right, Arum said, for all the thrills he?s given boxing. The Hall of Fame promoter said Crawford is on the short list of potential foes for the legend?s goodbye fight.
?The choice is going to be up to him,? said Arum, who is the promoter for both Pacquiao and Crawford. ?I think the chances of him selecting Terence as the opponent are very, very good. I really believe that.?
Crawford?s team would love to land the bout. The WBO junior welterweight champion (27-0, 19 KOs) ? who said, ?Make it happen, Bob,? when asked about Pacquiao ? has proven himself ready for a big event.
?That?s the fight that makes Terence,? Crawford?s co-manager Cameron Dunkin said.
?He?s making really good money ? $1.3 (million) is not a joke. It?s a lot of money. But to get him to that $4 to $7 (million) ? that crazy stuff ? I need Pacquiao. (Arum) will talk him into it, and we?ll get it done.?
The proposed fight makes plenty of sense for Top Rank. The bout, in a sense, would be a torch-passing event between the boxer who has been its biggest star (Pacquiao) and its potential next one (Crawford).
However, it may not be as attractive to the soon-to-be-retiring boxer. Crawford, in his prime, is seemingly a tougher opponent than the other options mentioned for Pacquiao: Amir Khan and Timothy Bradley. And those two fighters, near the top of boxing longer than Crawford, may net him more money.
Pacquiao, remember, is coming off a reported $180 million payday for his May bout with now-retired Floyd Mayweather Jr. Fighting a hungry, young champion for little reward wouldn?t make a lot of sense.
He?s already beaten Bradley once, and lost a controversial decision to him in a bout most feel he won, in two previous meetings. And Khan, who has fought four times since 2012, has been relatively inactive while waiting for a potential fight with Mayweather that never happened and has lost via KO twice.
There?s also always a chance that Mayweather, as he?s done before, comes out of retirement so he and Pacquiao can go at it again in 2016. And don?t rule out a fifth battle with future Hall of Famer Juan Manuel Marquez, who hasn?t fought this year but never retired. He KO?d ?Pac-Man? in their last bout.
Pacquiao, one would assume, would jump at the chance to avenge his last two defeats if rematches with Mayweather, whom he fought with an injured shoulder, and Marquez appear. Both would be lucrative.
Arum said Crawford?s ?great performance tonight really helped his chances tremendously? after the WBO champ stopped Jean in the 10th round of a one-sided title defense at the CenturyLink Center.
?Manny has told me, for his last fight, he wants to fight the best available guy,? the promoter said.
Crawford certainly could be that guy. But, again, that?ll be Pacquiao?s call.
?Obviously, Manny?s going to decide who his opponent is going to be in his last fight,? Arum said. ?But if it?s Manny and Terence Crawford ? one hell of a fight. You don?t even have to sell that fight. Anybody that knows anything about boxing knows what a tremendous fight that would be.?
There is no timetable for Pacquiao?s decision. And Crawford?s team has to have Plan B in place in the event that he isn?t picked. A look at Khan?s inactivity shows what can happen while waiting for nothing.
Dunkin said he?s always thinking three fights ahead, though he has to take things bout to bout.
?I?d like to see him fight in January or February and then fight Pacquiao, if I had a choice,? he said. ?If that doesn?t happen, we?ll get him back in again and again, and then do a small pay-per-view with him.?
Dunkin said Top Rank has promised him at least three, and perhaps four, fights for Crawford in 2016. That?s after the company got him only two bouts in 2015 after he won 2014 Fighter of the Year honors.
Crawford needs to stay busy, Dunkin said, adding that if he does, he could become a $100 million boxer.
?Even if we do a small pay-per-view with him to get him a fourth fight, he won?t make as much money, maybe, but I?m going to beg him to do it,? Dunkin said. ?The more he?s out there, it gives us a chance.
?He?s so used to being guaranteed big money, but he does love to fight. One thing about this guy, he loves to fight. And the more he fights, the more he wants to fight. He?s an amazing fighter.?
