Rewind to 2015, and there was some talk about Manny Pacquiao fighting new pound-for-pound climber Terence Crawford. Speaking with Fight Hype, Crawford said he was at that time promised a shot at Pac-Man providing he defeated Dierry Jean. Crawford fought Jean in October of 2015, and he retained his WBO lightweight title with an impressive 10th round stoppage win, thus becoming the first man to stop the Canadian.
Was Jean stoppage too scary for Pac-Man?
But “Bud” feels today, when looking back, that his performance was so impressive it actually scared Pacquiao away, hence their fight didn’t take place. Pacquiao at this time, in late 2015, was coming off that decision loss to Floyd Mayweather. What might have happened if Pacquiao and Crawford had got it on a decade ago?
“I fought Dierry Jean and that was possibly my coming out party to potentially fight Manny Pacquiao. So that was the fight where they said if you look good, you get a shot at Manny Pacquiao at 140 pounds,” Crawford said. “I stopped him. Manny Pacquiao was nowhere to be seen. Freddie Roach knew how good I was because not only did I fight a couple of fighters he trained, Dierry Jean was one of Manny Pacquiao’s sparring partners as well.”
Could it have been an all-time classic?
So, is there some truth to Crawford’s story (and there’s no reason to believe Crawford is lying here) – did Manny get cold feet after seeing what the switch-hitter from Nebraska did to his sparring partner Jean? Of course we will never know, but a Crawford-Pacquiao fight certainly would have been a great one, maybe even an all-time classic.
As it is today, both men, Pacquiao and Crawford, are still active fighters, this quite amazing when you think about it. Pacquiao is returning at age 46, this to fight Mario Barrios, while Crawford, at age 37, will fight current Face of Boxing Canelo Alvarez in his next fight.
Two modern greats. Two all-time greats. Who would have won had Pac-Man and “Bud” danced a decade ago?
