Pound-for-pound great Terence Crawford is currently one of the most beloved fighters in the sport of boxing.
As one of the few undisputed world champions, Crawford has been able to show his elite talents over a number of years.
With a potential blockbuster fight with Canelo Alvarez down the line for ‘Bud’, fans may yet see the very best from the champion. However, a fight with one of the greatest Mexican fighters of all time is not the only conversation Crawford has had for a mega fight.
There was one boxing legend who almost stepped in the ring across from Crawford.
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Terence Crawford explains why fight with Manny Pacquiao did not happen
Making his debut in 2008, Crawford has been around the sport of boxing for well over a decade. In this time, he has faced the likes of Kell Brook, Errol Spencer Jr., and Shawn Porter.
However, Manny Pacquiao may have been close to being a name on the knockout artists’ resume.
In a recent interview with Club Shay Shay, Crawford was asked why the fight with Pacquiao did not happen. The fighter’s immediate response was, “I don’t know. Man, I hear so many excuses.”
In terms of one of the reasons why the fight did not come to fruition, Crawford said, “Freddy Roach is on record saying he didn’t want Manny Pacquiao to fight me. I just think TopRank wanted to protect Pacquiao because of a money issue, that was their cash cow.”
“They didn’t want to mess up the money they were getting from Pacquiao at the time.”
Crawford said that had they fought, they would have competed at a weight of 140 lbs. He also added that discussions for the fight occurred after ‘Bud’ defeated Dierry Jean in October 2015.
Jean was a former sparring partner of Pacquiao’s.
- READ MORE: Terence Crawford became an undisputed world champion with a crushing body shot KO in 2017
Manny Pacquiao’s last professional boxing fight came in 2021
At the time of writing, Pacquiao has not competed in a professional boxing match since 2021.
According to Crawford, his proposed bout with the legend was discussed in late 2015. At this time, Pacquiao would have been coming off a loss to Floyd Mayweather.
Pacquiao fought Mayweather in May 2015, and did not return to the ring until 11 months later. When he did make his comeback, Pacquiao faced Timothy Bradley Jr.
However, had things gone another way, Pacquiao would have attempted to bounce back from his loss against Crawford.