Undefeated American WBO welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford is in New York City for his upcoming title defense against undefeated Lithuanian challenger Egidijus “Mean Machine” Kavaliauskas at Madison Square Garden on December 14 live on ESPN+.
During fight week, Crawford did the media rounds including going on the Sway in the Morning radio show on SiriusXM to discuss the upcoming championship bout and talk boxing.
During the interview host Sway Calloway asked Crawford which fighter he would like to fight the most and the Nebraska native said Manny Pacquiao.
When Sway asked Crawford how would you beat a fighter like Pacquiao who looked great against Keith Thurman, Crawford answered confidently.
“I would just be myself. I’m an all around fighter. I just think the way that he (Pacquiao) jumps in throwing a lot of combinations I’ll catch him in the middle of it and potentially knock him out,” said Crawford.
“When he fought Jeff Horn, a guy that I stopped in the ring, Jeff Horn was bullying and manhandling Manny Pacquiao. But when you seen me and Jeff Horn fight it was a totally different fight. A lot of people say oh they robbed Manny Pacquiao, and this and that, but if you look at the fight, Jeff Horn was real life manhandling that guy. Not saying if he took him serious or not but that fight it showed his age, but when he fought Keith Thurman he showed a different Manny Pacquiao, he showed a glimpse of the old Pacquiao.”
Crawford also gave the reason why he was chasing a fight with Pacquiao when he was at Top Rank.
“The reason I wanted to fight Manny Pacquiao so bad is because I been calling him out since 2015 and for him to over step me and over step me with lesser fighters, I felt like it was kinda disrespectful.”
Crawford claimed that when he and Pacquiao were both with Top Rank and in different divisions he was being avoided by the Filipino ring legend.
According to Crawford, Pacquiao entertained the idea of moving down in weight to face certain fighters but Crawford’s name was never mentioned. When he finally moved up to the welterweight division Pacquiao opted to fight others fighters and eventually left Top Rank before facing him.
Whether fight fans think Pacquiao ducked Crawford or not is debatable. As of now the biggest fight to be made at welterweight is a showdown between Crawford and undefeated WBC/IBF world champion Errol Spence Jr.. Promotional issues have seemed to be the main roadblock and it will take some convincing for Crawford’s promoter Bob Arum to do business with Al Haymon and PBC.
Crawford will defend his WBO welterweight title against undefeated challenger Egidijus “Mean Machine” Kavaliauskas on December 14 at the Madison Square Garden in New York City on ESPN+.
