Like the rest of us, Bob Arum wants to see the best fighters fighting the best fighters. And one of the most sought after, most exciting and most genuinely fascinating fights that can be made this year (once the whole coronavirus virus issue has been successfully dealt with) is Terence Crawford vs. Errol Spence.
Arum took to his Top Rank podcast yesterday, to speak about this fight – one that would see two unbeaten welterweights, each with a genuine claim to being the best in the world at the weight, going at it – and some other things.
One of the other things was a Crawford vs. Manny Pacquiao fight. Arum said Manny and his people have “reached out’ to him with regards to them wanting the fight. Arum said the plan is to hold the fight overseas, once boxing and the world gets back to normal after you know what has been KO’d.
But should this match-up really be made? If for whatever reason or reasons a Crawford vs. Spence fight cannot be made this year (or ever), maybe the Plan-b will turn out to be a Pac Man vs. Bud showdown. But there’s only one winner, right? Crawford, who has been criticised for his quality of opposition in some quarters (too many to the 32 year old’s liking), is at his peak, Pacquiao, though still amazing us, is at least ten years past his absolute best.
Pacquiao has yet to decide on how much longer he wants to fight on for, but isn’t there a good chance Pacquiao would be having his last fight if he fought Crawford? It would be a real shame if Pacquiao took a beating and/or was embarrassed by Crawford and that this would be our final image of the all-time great in the ring.
Or am I doing Pacquiao a disservice? Sure, the southpaw dynamo is an incredible fighter – still today at age 41. And for all he has achieved, his special place in boxing history is as secure as the heads on Mount Rushmore. But can Pacquiao possibly have one more stunner of a surprise up his sleeve – to the tune of a win over Crawford?
If so, we would all have to start asking ourselves, seriously and for real; is Manny Pacquiao among the top 5 greatest fighters who ever lived? Some say Pacquiao is already. A win over a primed, peaking and unbeaten Terence Crawford would make it just about undeniable.
But again, should Manny take the risk? Should a Pacquiao-Crawford fight really be made? Really?
