The next fight for Manny Pacquiao this 2020 is tipped to be against Danny Garcia or Floyd Mayweather Jr., but there is one fighter who has been working on getting a shot at the 8-division world boxing champion. Terrence Crawford is done dealing with contenders, and unsurprisingly his list of worthy opponents includes the legendary Filipino boxer.
Crawford's plan is to climb atop the ring next clashing with the No.1 and No. 2 middleweights, and he believes his requirements best Errol Spence Jr. and the Pacman. With an unbeaten record and boasting of 27 Kos, the American is indeed a challenger that might catch the interest of Spence and Pacquiao.
According to Boxing News 24, Spence, however, could not give a word on when he plans to answer the challenge aired publicly by Crawford and partly that's because of his recent car accident. The best that Spence could promise is that a duel with Crawford seems interesting, but the bout happening this year is unlikely.
In reality, the same report said attracting top-notch fighters might prove difficult for Crawford at this time, given his recent track record of fighting and disposing off opponents deemed as easy picks. The American has conquered all of his foes, but none of them be seen as impressive to the taste of either Spence or Pacquiao.
So Crawford fighting Spence and Pacquiao next will greatly depend on the negotiating skills of his promoter Bob Arum, who was the same man responsible for most of Pacquiao's celebrated fights while still ascending to his current status as a boxing superstar.
If both Spence and Pacquiao decide even to consider a fight proposal from Crawford, the latter can elect to move up and pick a spat against Patrick Teixeira, presently the WBO junior middleweight titleholder, according to Ring News 24.
Moving forward in the case of Spence and Pacquiao declining, Crawford said, will only show that he is "advanced ... and levels above."
"If neither one of those fights don't happen, then we'll go look elsewhere. When you're great, they do that," Crawford was reported as saying.
As for Pacquiao, the Filipino is believed to have already scheduled his return to the ring in April, and most probably, he will be boxing against Danny Garcia.
Of note, it might be that there will be two fights planned out by Team Pacquiao in 2020 and the last one could be the highly anticipated MayPac 2, which is rumored to be staged in Saudi Arabia, in Japan or in Las Vegas, where the first Pacquiao vs. Mayweather took place in 2015.
