Manny Pacquiao and Terence Crawford will both need to come through fights before 2016 is out for it to happen. But what a potentially mouth watering fight to look forward to in 2017.
In many ways it would be a modern dream fight for fans of both fighters.
Pacquiao is currently readying himself for a WBO welterweight title showdown with Jessie Vargas on November 5th and Terence Crawford is expected to have a very credible opponent announced for December 10th soon.
But should both men come through the fight their mutual promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank told ESPN First Take:
“The thing I like about a Pacquiao-Crawford fight is that it would probably be held at 140lbs which is a more natural weight for Manny Pacquiao. He’s really not a 147 pounder (welterweight) although he has been campaigning as one for years. Crawford is a sensational fighter but Crawford on December 10th will have a major fight.”
He added:
“He gets by that fight and Manny beats Vargas, I’d love to make a fight between Manny Pacquiao and Terence Crawford.”
In some regards it would also represent the classic old lion vs young lion story.
Currently, Pacquiao is balancing training a full-time political job as Senator of his home country while training around the job ahead of the Vargas boxing showdown.
If he wins and a Crawford fight was put together, you’d have to think that Pacquiao couldn’t continue such a training schedule ahead of what would be a considerable (to put it mildly) task in Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford.