By Ryan Burton
The next opponent for Manny Pacquiao is still up in the air. The eight division former champion is scheduled to return on April 9th in Las Vegas. Pacquiao was going to announce his opponent on December 11th, but then delayed his decision until an undetermined date.
The three candidates being mentioned include WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley, WBO junior middleweight champion Terence Crawford, British star Amir Khan - and even a fourth name, WBA 140-pound champion Adrien Broner, has been making the rounds in the last two weeks.
Reportedly the frontrunners are Bradley and Crawford.
Floyd Mayweather Sr., father and trainer of retired pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr., says Crawford (27-0, 19KOs) would have a very good chance of beating Pacquiao, but the veteran coach is concerned with Crawford's defense.
Mayweather Sr. believes Crawford's defense is lacking and that will provide the hard punching Pacquiao with opportunities to land big shots.
In his signature win against Yuriorkis Gamboa in June 2014, Crawford had issues with Gamboa's speed and accuracy for the first four rounds. By the fifth, Crawford adjusted and his size/strength was too much for the Olympic gold medal winner.
"I think he really has a good chance [to beat Pacquiao], but I'll tell you this here...I think Pacquiao would get some real good shots in on Crawford. - because Crawford is not defensive at all. He throws a lot of punches, a lot of his punches land, but he is not defensive at all in his abilities. He takes a lot of punches too," Mayweather Sr. said.
