IT seems Manny Pacquiao is headed to one of his biggest fights in years.
I refer to Terrence Crawford, the reigning light-welterweight king.
If plans won?t go awry, the American is set to face Pacquiao in either April or May.
It will all depend on how Bob Arum will handle the negotiations.
But first, Pacquiao and his trainer, Freddie Roach, will have to figure out how they?d go about it: Fight Crawford or not?
Roach, the seven-time Trainer of the Year, is ambivalent.
Roach told badlefthook.com that Crawford is a dangerous opponent and if he could have his way, he?d rather that Pacquiao fought another.
?It?s a tough fight, yes,? Roach said. ?But it?s one that we have to say yes to?because we don?t wanna just be fighting nobodies.?
Two nobodies were beaten by Pacquiao last year: Tim Bradley and Jessie Vargas.
They were nobodies but, again, Pacquiao failed?yet again?to send them to dreamland. It disappointed Pacquiao?s fans no end.
The last time Pacquiao scored a knockout was in 2009 yet, when he stopped Miguel Cotto in the 12th round after the referee halted the fight for the Filipino?s TKO win.
Pacquiao has never scored a stoppage since then. And, worst, he himself got knocked out.
It happened in 2012, when Juan Manuel Marquez sent Pacquiao crashing to the floor with a smashing right to the face with one second left in the sixth.
Pacquiao was leading on points in that fight.
Impatient and wanting to end the bout in a hurry, Pacquiao pressed on the attack and, in the process, forgot about defense and got tagged by the biggest blow since he turned pro in 1996.
Well, he recovered, piling up victories one after the other. But still, the fans wanting to see his knockout punches again were dismayed by their idol?s utter inability to score big again.
So that when Pacquiao lost on points to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2015, they considered him a washout.
Then the surprise: Pacquiao admitted he fought Mayweather with only one healthy arm. His right shoulder was injured during training.
He elected to proceed with the fight, fearing its postponement might derail the record million-dollar prize he was to receive in the richest fight ever.
Pacquiao recovered from the Mayweather defeat, winning his two fights in 2016.
But still, they weren?t convincing enough as they came on mere points.
The second one against Vargas came after Pacquiao announced he was coming out of retirement. Last April he retired following his unanimous decision over Bradley.
And now this, a fight with Crawford, a knockout artist who is 10 years younger than Pacquiao. Pacquiao turned 38 last December 17.
But Arum only knows too well if and when he?d finally pit Pacquiao against the dangerous Crawford, who is 30-0 with 21 knockouts.
With the Pacquiao-Mayweather rematch seemingly evaporating into thin air, Arum, the shrewdest promoter of all time, might just go for the Pacquiao-Crawford fight.
That will be a blockbuster, of course. It could be easily bandied about as Pacquiao?s last hurrah.
And with a marketing pitch of a decisive Pacquiao victory over Crawford happening, Mayweather might yet be lured into coming out of retirement.
As I keep saying here, ?Boxing is the art of the possible.? For boxing is the first cousin of politics.
THAT?S IT Alex Cabagnot?s broken nose was the result of Cliff Hodge?s rough play. Let us pray and hope that all of 2017 would see the end of harmful fouls in the Philippine Basketball Association, still the No. 1 sports entertainment in the country. Happy New Year!
