Crawford: Postol Unknown, Pacquiao Takes Me To The Next Level

By Edward Chaykovsky

For a few months, WBO junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford (27-0, 19KOs) was a frontrunner to face eight division champion Manny Pacquiao on April 9th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Crawford was ultimately passed over, with Pacquiao selecting former rival Timothy Bradley for a trilogy fight.

After losing out on that opportunity Plan B was established and takes place this Saturday night, when Crawford defends his title against Hank Lundy (26-5-1, 13 KOs) in an HBO televised main event from the Theater in New York's Madison Square Garden. 

Most fans would have preferred to see Crawford face WBC junior welterweight champion Viktor Postol (28-0, 12 KOs) in a unification. Postol made a big statement by knocking out Lucas Matthysse (37-4, 34 KOs, 1 NC) in the 10th round last October.

Crawford has no issue with facing Postol, but he would much rather get in the ring with Pacquiao. He feels Postol is unknown and beating him would create few waves. But a pay-per-view fight against an established superstar like Pacquiao is a career-changing opportunity.

"The only fight that could take my career to another level right now is against Manny Pacquiao," said Crawford. "A lot of people talked about Postol, and he is a great fighter, but he's not really known in the United States."

"Pacquiao is the only fighter who could take my career to another level because he is a superstar and to be a superstar you have to beat one like him."

Pacquiao says his upcoming fight will be the final bout of his career. The Filipino star plans top pursue a full-time career in politics back home in the Philippines. If he wins and decides to continue, his promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank has already informed BoxingScene.com that he would absolutely explore a fall pay-per-view fight with Crawford, who would likely take another fight in the summer.