Justine Fortune, Manny Pacquiao’s co-trainer, wants the Filipino to take on Terence Crawford.
Pacman’s last pro fight took place in 2021 against Yordenis Ugas, as he lost a unanimous decision. He retired soon after, capping off an illustrious career that made him an eight-division champion. Since then, Pacquiao has had an exhibition bout with DK Yoo and will face Muay Thai fighter Buakaw Banchamek in April. After that bout, Pacman’s manager of his promotional company, Sean Gibbons, has confirmed he is out of retirement. Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia and Conor McGregor have been mentioned as possible opponents.
“Technically he’s out of retirement. He would love to fight Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia. He’s got about a year left. He just wants to fight. Manny feels that he’s in tremendous shape. He’s training for this exhibition but hopefully that will lead to something bigger and better. I do [see a pro return for Pacquiao]. One of the fights that people talked about for a long time was Manny Pacquiao versus Conor McGregor. That’s something that will be sensational in Saudi Arabia, let’s go,” Gibbons revealed
Pacquiao Vs. Crawford
Now Crawford’s name has been thrown in the mix.
“I don’t want to see Pacquiao-Mayweather 2; that would have been a great fight around a year or two after the first fight when it was fresh in people’s memory; I’d rather see Pacquiao return against [Terence] Crawford; that’s a massive payday and guess what, it’s a 50/50 fight. Manny has a 50 percent chance of winning because he’s still a freak athlete, and it wouldn’t take much to pull him into shape. Even though he’s slowed down a bit, he’s still twice as fast as anyone out there,” Fortune said
Crawford was on course to face Pacquiao, but that never went ahead when Pacman lost to Jeff Horn. Bud would face Horn, stopping him to win the WBO Welterweight Title. But since Pacman is 45 years old, there are concerns that the fight could cause long-lasting damage. Crawford has stopped all his opponents at welterweight, including Errol Spence Jr.
Pacquiao has nothing else left to prove in the sport by taking those bouts, even if they are lucrative opportunities. Crawford’s priorities also lie elsewhere. He is targeting Canelo Alvarez for the right to become a three-weight undisputed champion. Facing Pacman does nothing to take Crawford closer to that goal. At 36, Crawford is looking for the biggest fights at the tail end of his career.
“I’m looking for mega-fights right now, and that’s not a mega-fight. That’s my standpoint on it. I’m looking to fight guys like Canelo Alvarez and the rematch with Errol Spence, and that’s it, that’s over with for me,” Crawford stated
These plans will depend on how Pacquiao looks in his next fight. At 45, he cannot be expected to roll back the years, but if he does show flashes of his speed and power, it may be enough to get fans to demand one more big fight.
More must-reads: