Terence Crawford has played down the credentials of eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao.
‘Bud’ is 41 fights in to an impressive professional career, where he has won world titles across four weight classes and has been crowned the undisputed champion at super lightweight and welterweight respectively.
It was revealed earlier on this year that the 37-year-old from Omaha, Nebraska will face fellow pound-for-pound great Canelo Alvarez in what has been described as a mega-fight in September, as he bids to dethrone the unified WBC, WBA and WBO super middleweight champion.
Another fighter who had incredible success throughout their professional career is Manny Pacquiao, who remains the only fighter in the history of the sport to win world titles in eight weight divisions.
Despite the exceptional accomplishments of ‘Pac-Man’, Crawford believes that the 46-year-old does not belong in discussions for being one of the greatest of all time.
In an interview with Pound4Pound, ‘Bud’ gave his reasons for not ranking Pacquiao as an all-time-great, claiming the 46-year-old ‘didn’t do things alone’ throughout his career.
“There is a reason why I don’t put him [Manny] up there. Manny is a generational, talented fighter, he’s accomplished what no other fighter will again, but I don’t feel like he did it on his own, that’s me personally. When Floyd [Mayweather] made it a point for him to do the blood test, he didn’t want to do the blood test, but then when he did do the blood test, he hasn’t got a knockout since.”
‘Pac-Man’ announced his retirement from the sport in September 2021, shortly after he was defeated by Yordenis Ugas just one month earlier. The 46-year-old from the Philippines has left the door open for a return to the ring in recent months, although it remains to be seen whether this will happen at any point in the distant future.
