INQUISITR.COM / Sports

Manny Pacquiao To Retire After One More Big Fight — Is Terrence Crawford Next?

By Ernest Shepard
Published on: 16:28 PST, Oct 24, 2015

Manny Pacquiao will join Floyd Mayweather, Jr., just not inside the boxing ring. Manny Pacquiao will fight once more. He is looking at an April 9 date to return to boxing. The April bout will be his last fight, allegedly.

According to ESPN’s Dan Rafael, Manny Pacquiao met with his promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank boxing. He discussed his plans over dinner at a New York restaurant. Pacquiao wants to retire from the sport and focus on political life in his native Philippines. Arum left the dinner with the impression that his top client was deadset about hanging up his gloves.

“We talked very seriously and he said Bob, hopefully, by the middle of May I will have been elected as senator in the Philippines and at that point I cannot engage in boxing because I need to focus on the senate and I have to be in attendance.”

It would be great to see Manny Pacquiao get a rematch against Floyd Mayweather, Jr. before he goes out. That will most likely not be the case. Given that Pacquiao was injured before their first fight in May, a rematch would be a fitting ending to two careers. Their rematch would break pay-per-view records.

Mayweather has already retired from boxing, although he is barely removed from the ring. With less than two months since his last fight with Andre Berto, Floyd Mayweather should still be in good shape. There are reports that he used a banned IV (via Bleacher Report) in the fight with Manny Pacquiao. It would behoove him to erase any doubt about things.

It is unlikely that Manny Pacquiao will secure a Mayweather rematch. He must look elsewhere for an opponent.

Unlike most fighters who have been in the position to plan their retirements, Manny Pacquiao will fight the best available boxer. There has been few shortcuts in his career. There is little chance that he will take an easy fight before he hangs up the gloves for good.

Pacquiao fighting Juan Manuel Marquez (56-7-1) for a fifth time will be discussed.

The rivalry between the two spans over a decade. It will be a thrilling fight, but Pacquiao is 2-1-1 against Marquez. A loss would leave a cloud of speculation that a sixth fight may happen because they would be tied.

That is not what Manny Pacquiao wants to do. He wants to leave the sport in good health will his faculties all intact. That leads to a final date of April 9. One date that will be etched in stone.

Other potential opponents for Manny Pacquiao in his retirement fight are Amir Khan (31-3), whom he has never faced and Timothy Bradley (32-1-1). Pacquaio and Bradley have fought twice. Both of them have a victory over the other.

While those names are good prospects for a possible opponent for Manny Pacquiao’s last fight, there is another name that emerged just hours after Bob Arum announced his client’s retirement plans.

Undefeated 140-pound champion Terrence Crawford had an opportunity to stake his claim for a big fight against Pacquiao. His lopsided win over Dierry Jean makes him a legitimate option to face Manny Pacquaio on the April 9 date.

Crawford, perhaps feeling charged up by his home crowd of Omaha, Nebraska, put on a show, stopping Jean with a TKO 2:30 into the 10th round.

Terrence Crawford is a talented boxer who fights in a conventional stance to start things out. As an ambidextrous fighter, he will switch to southpaw. Crawford boxes just as good out the southpaw stance.

Unlike Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Terrence Crawford looks to fight and boxes with a mean streak. His style would work well in concert with how Manny Pacquaio fights.

There were few chances for Pacquiao to trade punches in his last fight versus Mayweather. Mayweather is a defensive wizard inside the ring. As is Crawford, though the young potential challenger wants to hurt his opposition. It would be a great way to celebrate Manny Pacquiao’s career, while establishing the rise of the next great boxer.

Manny Pacquiao wants to fight one more time. This time on April 9. Against which fighter, most people will want to see him fight Floyd Mayweather, Jr. once again. Terrence Crawford wants that chance at Pacquiao. Manny Pacquiao fighting Terrence Crawford would be a better matchup, for several reasons. One including the fact that styles makes fights.

No matter who he faces, there will be one more fight for Manny Pacquiao, who will then go off into the same realm as Mayweather did, retirement. Hopefully, Pacquiao will hang up his gloves after a thrilling bout, whoever it is in the opposite corner on April 9.

[Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images Sport]

Share this article: Manny Pacquiao To Retire After One More Big Fight — Is Terrence Crawford Next?
boxing manny pacquiao
More from Inquisitr