Sean Gibbons of MP Promotions states that Manny Pacquiao is interested in facing IBF/WBC welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr in a unification fight. Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports News says he spoke to Gibbons, and he told him that Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) “still has the fire” to compete in 2021, and it is interested in facing the unbeaten Spence (27-0, 21 KOs).
Spence is coming off of a big win over Danny Garcia last Saturday night at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Errol’s style of fighting in which stood in the pocket and went toe-to-toe with the Philadelphia native, is what might have attracted interest from Pacquiao.
While Spence controlled the fight came out on top in winning a 12 round unanimous decision, he looked vulnerable at times against Garcia, especially in the championship rounds.
Garcia made many of the rounds close with his pressure and his formidable power. He was catching Spence frequently with his trademark left hook and right, but he could take the shots.
Spence, 30, says he plans on getting back into the ring in “the summertime” in 2021 against a still to be determined opponent.
Pacquiao could be the guy that Spence faces if the Filipino star is serious about fighting him.
Just spoke to @KnuckleheadSean of MP Promotions. He said Senator @MannyPacquiao said he was impressed and thought Spence look good. Still has the fire to fight in 2021 and would like to take on Spence.
— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) December 6, 2020
Pacquiao hasn’t fought since his 12 round decision win over WBA welterweight champion Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman a year and a half ago in July 2019. That fight took place on pay-per-view.
Recently, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has talked off wanting to fight between WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford and Pacquiao for the Middle East.
That’s Arum talking, though, and not Pacquiao. Arum has wanted to put together a fight between Pacquiao and Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) for ages, but it’s just not happened.
One gets the sense that Manny isn’t thrilled at fighting Crawford, who has a crafty fighting style, which involves movement, counter-punching, and changing stances a lot.
Spence’s no-frills style of the old school of fighting is better-suited for how Pacquiao likes to fight, as it would straight-up battle between two punchers. The Filipino star wouldn’t have to deal with a fighter using gimmicks to beat him the way Crawford would.
Crawford could find himself being shutout next year by both Pacquiao and Spence. For Crawford to get a chance to fight the Premier Boxing Champions welterweights, he may need to leave Top Rank and sign with PBC.
It’s anyone’s guess whether Crawford would make that move because he’s making well-making money and getting a lot of visibility with Top Rank. They’ve done an excellent job with Crawford, even though they’ve failed to put him in with any of the big names at 147.