{"id":607661,"date":"2026-04-16T09:13:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T09:13:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/607661\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T09:13:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T09:13:17","slug":"pacquiao-picks-between-mayweather-and-crawford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/607661\/","title":{"rendered":"Pacquiao Picks Between Mayweather And Crawford"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Pacquiao<\/p>\n

Manny Pacquiao<\/a> weighed in on a hypothetical welterweight clash between a prime Floyd Mayweather<\/a> and Terence Crawford<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While Pacquiao lost a unanimous decision to Mayweather in 2015, he believes Crawford\u2019s skills would have handed Mayweather his first professional defeat. Pacquiao threw his support behind Crawford for one defining reason: Stance versatility. While Mayweather\u2019s \u201cPhilly Shell\u201d defense was nearly impenetrable for orthodox fighters, Manny felt its effectiveness against an elite southpaw would be tested. That is why Pacquiao picked Crawford over Mayweather.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Terence Crawford, in both primes. He has an advantage \u2013 southpaw. I saw Crawford as a southpaw, he mastered it. He knows how to maximise his advantage,\u201d Pacquiao said\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Credit: The Ring<\/p>\n

The Match-Up<\/p>\n

Unlike Pacquiao, who was a dedicated southpaw, Terence Crawford is perhaps the greatest \u201cswitch-hitter\u201d in boxing history. If Crawford noticed Mayweather timing his orthodox looks, he could seamlessly transition to southpaw. <\/p>\n

Against Errol Spence Jr., Crawford used his length and southpaw jab to completely disrupt a world-class fighter\u2019s rhythm. Against Mayweather, this versatility would force Floyd to constantly recalibrate his lead-foot placement, potentially stripping him of his counter-punching abilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The counter-argument is that Floyd Mayweather excelled at mid-fight adjustments. Whenever he faced elite left-handed fighters (like Zab Judah or De La Hoya in segments), he would often abandon the shell in favor of a high guard and a more traditional \u201camateur style\u201d stance to take away the straight left.<\/p>\n

In 2006, Judah (a fast, powerful southpaw) won the early rounds against Mayweather. However, Mayweather adjusted by moving closer, putting pressure on Judah, and using a high guard to nullify the southpaw advantage. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Facebook: Boxing King Media<\/a><\/p>\n

Who Do You Pick?<\/p>\n

Mayweather\u2019s ability to download data and execute a \u201cPlan B\u201d remains his greatest asset. Crawford is brilliant, but he often \u201cstarts slow\u201d to read his opponents\u2014a dangerous habit against Mayweather, who rarely gave back a lead once he established one.<\/p>\n

The Case for Crawford: If we mean \u201cPretty Boy\u201d Floyd at 135\u2013147 lbs, Crawford\u2019s reach (74 inches compared to Mayweather\u2019s 72) and his finishing instinct might be the x-factor. Crawford doesn\u2019t just outpoint people; he breaks them down.<\/p>\n

The Case for Mayweather: Floyd\u2019s defensive metrics are the highest in the history of Compubox. He was hit less than any other fighter in the modern era.<\/p>\n

Comments<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Find all the\u00a0latest boxing news<\/a>\u00a0and MMA breaking updates on\u00a0boxingnews.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING boxingnews.COM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manny Pacquiao weighed in on a hypothetical welterweight clash between a prime Floyd Mayweather and Terence Crawford. While…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":607662,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-607661","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}