The boxing world waits with bated breath to find out who Terence Crawford is going to fight next, and the man himself says a fight excites him the same way ‘the one that got away’ did.
Crawford is on top of the boxing world right now after his superlative performance against Errol Spence Jr to lift all four major welterweight world titles back in July.
The win made the switch hitter from Nebraska an undisputed champion in a second weight division, and since then talk has of course turned to who he might fight next.
First up could be a contractually obliged rematch with Spence, but everyone from Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis to Jermell Charlo has also been mentioned.
Speaking on the Joe Rogan Experince MMA Show, Crawford was asked if there is anyone who is interesting to him right now other than Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez or Charlo. His answer was ‘nope.’
He then revealed the fight that excited him most, and was reminded of a time he was angling for a fight with Manny Pacquiao.
“I get excited when I talk about Canelo like I used to get excited about [Manny] Pacquiao. I used to get so excited, like man, I’mma be able to fight Pacquiao.”
Host Joe Rogan then asked if that super fight is the one that got away.
“It definitely did. But they didn’t want the fight. Freddie Roach said he didn’t want the fight. Pacquiao’s handlers didn’t want the fight.
I believe Pacquiao as a fighter he wanted the fight but they didn’t want the fight for him so it just got away.”
Whilst eight-division champion Pacquiao has hinted a ring return, it’s highly unlikely it will be on the level of Crawford. The fighting legend has been out of action since a loss to Yordenis Ugas in 2021.
As well as Canelo, Crawford has said his own personal preference as to who to fight next is Charlo, but those two must fight to battle it out for super middleweight supremacy in September.