By Edward Chaykovsky
Trainer and former fighter Jeff Mayweather, who is the uncle of retired pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr., is very confident that WBO junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford (27-0, 19KOs) would defeat superstar Manny Pacquiao.
Crawford is a frontrunner to face Pacquiao on April 9th. The upcoming fight is being billed as the final bout of Pacquiao's pro career.
The other names being mentioned include WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley and British superstar Amir Khan.
Pacquiao was scheduled to announce his opponent last week, but unexpectedly delayed his decision.
Bradley is widely viewed as the frontrunner to get the shot. He won a controversial split decision over Pacquiao in 2012 and lost by decision in their 2014 rematch.
Jeff feels Crawford is too good, too hungry for Pacquiao to select. Adding to that, Jeff points out that Crawford doesn't have the same name value as Bradley or Khan. Pacquiao's return will be carried by HBO Pay-Per-View and name value will play a role in his decision.
"I just think Crawford is an up and coming fighter that can actually fight and takes a good shot, has good hand speed, and can fight both ways. He can switch it both ways, he’s a force to be reckoned with," Jeff told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.
"Don’t get me wrong, even though Crawford is an up and coming fighter, he has no value. At the end of the day, Manny is not gonna fight his last fight by fighting a young hungry lion like that."
If the two boxers were to fight, Jeff picks Crawford to win by decision. Based on Pacquiao's history of suffering knockout defeats in the past, Jeff wouldn't be surprised if Crawford won inside the distance.
"I would think it’s by points. Don’t get me wrong, the one thing about boxing is that boxing is the theater of death and one punch can change anything. Manny has been knocked out more than once, so it ain’t like he can’t be knocked out, especially from a guy that he doesn’t know if the punch is coming from one side or the other. There’s a possibility that he could be knocked out, but if that fight were happening and I was gonna bet on that fight and I was gonna pick the winners, I would pick Crawford," Jeff said.
