Terence Crawford, guided by coach Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre, fought 42 times undefeated before retiring late last year. Were there any fights left on the table?
The switch-hitter from Omaha, Nebraska, won world championships in five divisions – undisputed in two – to stake his claim as the best fighter of a generation. His swansong was a jump up in weight to beat Mexican icon Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
Crawford is content in retirement and, unlike many of his peers, seems to find it easy to resist a return to the ring. Though his skill level is undeniable, one criticism that has been levelled at him, by the likes of Canelo and Ryan Garcia, is that his record does not include many elite names.
Speaking on the Front Page podcast, ‘BoMac’ was asked if there were any fighters he wished Crawford could have faced in his career, perhaps to further cement his legacy, and named Manny Pacquiao without hesitation.
“Manny Pacquiao. That’d have been great.”
On why it didn’t happen, McIntyre claims promoter Bob Arum, who worked with both men when the fight made most sense, blocked it.
“Bob [Arum] just said it the other day. He stopped it because he knew how that fight was gonna come out. [Pacquiao] was a cash cow … He didn’t want to mess up that money.”
Crawford has previously revealed that he pushed for a Pacquiao fight way back in 2015 when he was on his way to becoming super-lightweight world champion, and there were indeed other occasions in the years that followed where it could have made sense.
Interestingly, ‘PacMan’ also named Crawford as the one who got away, but he believes Arum protected the American, not the other way around.
Though ‘Bud’ looks set to remain retired, Pacquiao’s career is on the opposite trajectory. The Filipino returned professionally last year, fighting to a draw against then WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios. This year, he plans to rematch Floyd Mayweather, though details on the event remain scarce.
