Crawford upbeat on landing Pacquiao fight

MANILA, Philippines – Unbeaten WBO super lightweight champion Terence Crawford is confident of getting a crack at Manny Pacquiao in what’s expected to be the Filipino icon’s last professional fight.

In an interview with Jenna J of On The Ropes Boxing, Crawford said if he ever takes on Pacquiao, it will be a passing of the torch.

“Yeah, I feel it can happen, we’ll just wait and see what happens though. I feel it’s a good fight for me at this point in time in my career. I feel like I’m ready for it and it’s just matter of making things happen on both sides of the field,” said Crawford.

Reports said Pacquiao is eyeing to return to the ring for the last time on April 9 before dedicating his time to politics. The Sarangani congressman is gunning for a Senate post in the May 2016 elections.

Among the frontrunners to be Pacquiao final opponent are Amir Khan and Crawford, who sports a perfect record of 27-0, with 19 knockouts.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based Crawford is coming off an impressive dismantling of Dierry Jean, whom he stopped in 10 rounds last October 24 to strengthen his case for a date with Pacquiao.

Crawford, for his part, said he is ready to take over the sport.

“[Floyd] Mayweather is already retired, [Miguel] Cotto in a few is going to be retiring. [Timothy] Bradley in a few he’s going to be retiring, so it’s time for a new generation to take over boxing,” he continued.

But first, Crawford must defeat Pacquiao, which nowadays is still no easy feat. – Dino Maragay