By Rick Reeno
Trainer Abel Sanchez, who trains middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin among several other talents, believes WBO light welterweight champion Terence Crawford (27-0, 19 KOs) is not ready for the welterweight ranks just yet - but he is ready for a fight with Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs), who is probably the smallest of the elite boxers in that division.
Crawford returned on Saturday night at the CenturyLink Century in Omaha and busted up Dierry Jean for eleven rounds before the fight was waved off by the referee.
Pacquiao-Crawford is a strong possibility, according to their mutual promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank.
Pacquiap's next fight, which is being billed as the final bout of his career, is going to take place no later than April 9th of next year.
Crawford is one of the frontrunners to get that opportunity and Arum indicates the contest is likely going to take place at the junior welterweight limit of 140-pounds, but that stipulation has not been confirmed by Pacquiao's team.
If it does take place at the welterweight limit of 147 or somewhere in-between, Sanchez believes Crawford should have an easier time with Pacquiao as opposed to some of the other top names at 147 who rehydrate to the middleweight limit, and beyond, on fight night.
Within a year's time, Sanchez predicts Crawford will be a force to reckoned with at the welterweight limit.
"That fight I see being a little more competitive than some of the other guys at 147, because Manny is a small guy. He's not only small in stature but he's not very physical," Sanchez told BoxingScene.com.
"I don't see Terence being as effective at 147 as he is at 140, yet. I think he's still maturing. I think he's still growing. I think he's a heck of a fighter. At 147, it's a different animal up there. Those guys have matured, those guys have been up there for a while and seasoned. But it won't be long before he is up there on that level."
