Despite all the talk of him being considered as one of Manny Pacquiao's possible opponents for 2016, Terence Crawford maintained focused and hacked out a successful defense of his WBO junior-welterweight title against Dierry Jean.
Crawford entered the bout as the heavy favorite, and apparently, it showed. He stopped Jean in the 10th round over at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, keeping his end of the bargain for a possible fight with the eight-time division boxing champion.
"I'm ready. Bob, make it happen," he told Arum in the ring after the fight. "I'm ready. I'm gonna let my handlers, (co-managers) Cameron Dunkin and Brian McIntyre, talk to Bob Arum and Team Pacquiao, and let's see if we can make it happen."
Crawford's performance was in stark contrast to that of Lucas Matthysse. Overwhelmed with the possibility, the Argentine pug seemingly lost his focus and paid dearly for it when he lost to Ukrainian boxer Viktor Postol (ironically in the 10th round, too) earlier in the month.
Crawford and Matthysse are among the list of possible opponents for Pacquiao set for April 9, 2016, the official date set for his return and farewell fight.
Aside from Crawford and Matthysse, other names in the mix include that of Timothy Bradley Jr. and Amir Khan. Pacquiao and his camp are expected to formally announce his next opponent either in November or December.
While Crawford's performance was impressive, he will have to wait a while. With Bradley also in consideration, Arum and Pacquiao are expected to keep a close eye on Desert Storm's title defense against Brandon Rios on November 7 at the Thomas & Mack Center.
"But Manny has to make that decision who he fights for his last fight. Manny has to look at the tape first, and we have to see what the result of Nov. 7 is, and then we'll take a look after that," says Arum via ESPN.
Crawford seems to be looking forward to that match with the Filipino boxing icon but the thing is, he doesn't seem to have a hold on it for now.
He is apparently among the list of potential opponents, but is not the first choice. Such was revealed by Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz in an interview with Ring TV.
It seems that Crawford is now on the same vote of Amir Khan, who has grown impatient with the contract talks.
The Briton initially claimed he was moving on, believing that Pacquiao was leaning more on a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Khan eventually opted to wait some more after Arum said that there was no truth to his claims of a Pacquiao-Mayweather rematch.
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