LONDON – Lewis Crocker has the world at his feet after claiming the IBF welterweight title in September.
The Northern Irishman topped the bill in his home city of Belfast against Limerick's Paddy Donovan at Windsor Park for the vacant belt. Crocker was not fancied by many to claim the title after his first encounter with Donovan in March. Crocker was outclassed by Donovan in their first clash, but a shot after the bell in the eighth floored Crocker, with Donovan subsequently disqualified.
Crocker surprised many in the rematch with his tactics, and was able to defeat Donovan, dropping him twice en route to a split decision victory. Now there are plenty calling the Irishman’s name, with an in-house fight against Conor Benn an option. Boxing great Manny Pacquiao has been in talks to face WBA welterweight champion Rolly Romero in the last few weeks. But after Romero was ordered to defend his belt against mandatory challenger Shakhram Giyasov, Pacquiao could look elsewhere for a title shot, after drawing in July with WBC 147lb champion Mario Barrios.
Crocker’s manager Jamie Conlan has recently stated that he had reached out to Pacquiao’s team in a hope of matching the 46-year-old with Crocker. Matchroom Boxing CEO Frank Smith revealed that there had been no talks on his end to stage Pacquiao-Crocker but it was certainly a fight of interest.
“I met with Lewis [Crocker] and Jamie [Conlan] earlier in the week,” Smith told BoxingScene. “They came into the office, we were discussing what's next. There are lots of opportunities, the IBF ordered a final eliminator between Paddy Donovan and Liam Paro today as well, which means sort of mid-part of next year the winner of that is going to be challenging for the IBF title. But first and foremost we're going to get a fight for Lewis.
“There are big options out there and we'll hopefully have some news soon. When you see what he did just a few weeks back at Windsor Park, he's got so many opportunities, but no real discussions yet with Manny Pacquiao. You know, it could be interesting, bring Manny Pacquiao to Windsor Park.
“Of course [we’re interested], he's a massive name,” he continued. “You know, he arguably beat Mario Barrios in his fight last time. He didn't get the decision, it was close, but yeah, Manny Pacquiao, it doesn't get much bigger than that does it?”
