Opinion: Why Terence Crawford Won’t Get the Manny Pacquiao Fight

Bob Arum recently announced that Manny Pacquiao will follow Floyd Mayweather Jr. into retirement after his next fight on April 9. After a two-decade run in boxing that saw Pacquiao become the first and only eight-division world champion, the Filipino fighter has decided that a career in politics deserves his attention. However, before he hangs up his gloves for good, he will face one last opponent.

Whoever gets his name called will have an opportunity of a lifetime to etch his name in the history books while earning a nice paycheck. However, if Pacquiao wants to go out with a win, he should stay far, far away from Terence Crawford. It’s not that Pacquiao can’t beat Crawford or that fight fans wouldn’t love to see the living legend face one of the brightest up-and-coming stars in the sport on his way out. Ultimately, it would be bad for business. It’s awful that we have to look at things like this in the sport of boxing. The best should always fight the best, but that hasn’t been what the sport has been about in recent years. Instead, it’s about the best business decision that will yield the biggest reward for the lowest risk.

Pacquiao has never really been one to shy away from a good fight, not publicly at least. However, he will likely want to leave the sport with the lasting image of his hand raised and his opponent lying unconscious on the canvas. After watching what Crawford did to Dierry Jean on Oct. 24 and to each of his previous 27 victims, you have to wonder if Arum will be willing to put Pacquiao in a fight where there’s a distinct possibility “Pacman” would lose.

On one hand, it’s the perfect fight for Pacquiao to pass the torch to Crawford, who seems destined to eventually become one of the brightest stars in the sport. Considering that Crawford fights under the Top Rank umbrella, it’s a great opportunity for Arum to roll out the red carpet for his new star. However, there are several problems with this line of thinking.

For one, Crawford is still a relative unknown to the casual fight fan; and with Pacquiao laying an egg in his last fight against Mayweather, there’s a chance that the Pacquiao name alone might not have the same appeal. Not that they are remotely similar situations, but perhaps potential pay-per-view buyers will be reluctant to cough up their hard-earned cash, just like they were when Mayweather fought his last fight against Andre Berto.

The other problem that lingers is the possibility of Crawford losing. If that were to happen, Arum would be put in a difficult situation in which his biggest star retires and puts a beating on the future Top Rank torchbearer. From a promotional standpoint, that certainly wouldn’t help matters. However, if you put all that aside, this fight would carry a ton of intrigue and offer the possibility of plenty of excitement.

Although Pacquiao is certainly on the decline, he’s still one of the best fighters in the world; and if the injured shoulder played a major factor in the Mayweather fight like he led us to believe, chances are that Pacquiao still has a lot of gas left in the tank. He’s not quite the whirlwind of punches that destroyed everyone not named Juan Manuel Marquez, but he’s still a dangerous puncher with a unique blend of speed, power and just enough awkwardness to present a challenge for any opponent.

Crawford has been on an impressive tear since bursting on the scene with a unanimous decision win against Breidis Prescott in 2013. He tore down Scotsman Ricky Burns in Scotland to become the WBO lightweight champion in March 2014 and impressively dispatched Cuban sensation Yuriorkis Gamboa in his follow-up performance a little less than four months later. Dominant displays of boxing followed with victories over Ray Beltran, Thomas Dulorme and the aforementioned Jean. What might be the most important attribute Crawford possesses is his unique ability to switch stances on a whim, make proper adjustments that put his opponent in punching range and display equal power in both hands.

In what has been his most impressive fight to date, Crawford found Gamboa’s awkwardness to be problematic early, but as the fight continued, the Nebraskan made all of the right adjustments that led to a scintillating ninth-round knockout over his previously undefeated opponent. That fight exemplified the distinctive gifts Crawford wields and shows why he may be the perfect foil against Pacquiao.

However, with a more lucrative -- and perhaps easier -- fight lingering against Amir Khan, a fight with Crawford loses its financial appeal for Pacquiao. As Arum recently said to the Los Angeles Times, “Manny’s willing to fight anybody, but he wants the best deal.” Unfortunately, that all but counts Crawford out of what would be one hell of a fight.

Andreas Hale is a content producer for Jay Z’s LifeandTimes.com and editor-in-chief of PremierWuzHere.com, as well as a frequent Sherdog.com columnist. Check out his archive here.