I don't think Pacquaio beats Crawford at this stage. But boxing is theatre and if there is an old star out there who could claim such a victory it's clearly Manny Pacquaio. If he loses to Crawford then he hasn't lost anything, but a win or even an excellent competitive effort just adds further esteem to his legacy. I want to see Pacquaio take one last top level fight before he cashes out with a gimme or gimmick fight. After all he did win his last fight against an undefeated champion despite being tipped not too, Crawford is better than Thurman but still Pacman was still competing at the top end of the division in his last fight and I want him to continue until he takes another loss because he gains more by winning than he loses by...losing. I'd rather see him fight Crawford and lose than see a fight against Amir Khan or another irrelevant fighter. If Pacquaio goes out he should go out facing the best imo, it's not like he's on a losing streak, he's beat Matthysse, Broner and Thurman in his last 3 fights which are solid wins at this stage of his career, even if they don't register on his list of greatest wins.
However I would rather it be Spence that he faces as I do think he has a better chance in that fight. But if it's Crawford so be it. It's not like Crawford is going to be facing any one better if he doesn't fight Pacman. So why not, it's not like Pacquaio has no chance, boxing is littered with fighters considered "past it" who rolled back the years. Again, of course I'd favour Crawford but if there's a small chance Pacquaio could win then everyone should want to see it as it would be a ATG performance. Bottom line, Manny Pacquaio might as well strive for a further great victory than take a gimme fight. And whilst obviously I want to see Crawford v Spence, that isn't going to happen next and whoever Crawford fights won't be as good as 2021 Manny Pacquaio