Manny Pacquiao and Errol Spence Jr announce 21 August fight

Can anyone see Manny winning? Competitive,certainly.
A brave move from Pac,whom I found out today is the only man to hold a world title in four decades.
Still, what a swansong,eh?

As a side note, what must be going through Terence Crawford's mind? He talked a good one about pushing his way out of Top Rank if they didn't start getting him the big fights and paydays soon, and has said he's willing to put his pound for pound credentials (which can't hold up for much longer the way things are going) to the test against the best Welters out there. Yet more than six months since he last fought, there's still no announcement of his next fight, still no switch to PBC to make these big unification showdowns happen, still no real agitation from him.

Though I'm a fan of his talent, I'm getting near the end of my tether with Crawford at the moment, and I'm beginning to wonder if his heart is really in this anymore. Part of me is starting to suspect that he's maybe happy with his lot - he's won a few world titles, forged a pretty dedicated (though not all that expansive) fan following in and around his home state, earned a few quid and a bit of critical acclaim etc. It might be a case that, at thirty-three, he's satisfied to just sit on all that and protect his '0' for a couple more years before retiring, and doesn't have the passion or ambition to really push on and try to make bigger things happen.

I hope I'm wrong.

Spence couldn't get the Crawford fight (or skipped it depending on your point of view) and has chased the $ and another belt in a very winnable fight.

I think Spence wins this with a little bit to spare, but Manny will make it more competitive than he probably has a right to. Nice little retirement fund for him.

Anyone else slightly surprised at how big an underdog Pacquiao appears to be with the bookies (and in turn the fans / pundits) for this one? 7/2 seems to be the going rate for him to win at the moment and most of the commentariat are in line with that.

Seems to me they are basically assuming that Pacquiao's long layoff combined with his age will make him a shell by the time that bell rings. It might well do....But this is Pacquiao we're talking about. Phenomenal specimen and tremendously skilled.

The layoff is a concern but let's assume he hasn't lost all that much since 2018/2019. I'd take the Pacquiao of the Matthysse fight, or the first half of the Thurman fight, to beat Spence. He struggled a bit in the second half of that Thurman encounter, seemingly a combination of age, possibly punching himself out a bit with all his work in rounds one to five and, to be fair to him, Thurman also boxing a lot more smartly and upping his game (I thought it ended up being a pretty creditable effort from Thurman given the nightmare start he had).

I can see why all that points to a Spence win, but I just wonder if we're being a bit hasty writing Pacquiao off. Spence is hittable and didn't look all that great against Garcia, albeit it was still a solid performance and you have to factor in it was his first fight back after those injuries he sustained in the car crash. Spence is a very big Welter who'll have a considerable weight advantage come fight night, and he's tough, so he may end up just walking Pacquiao down and overpowering him. But if Pacquiao is still at his 2018 / 2019 level (which in itself is nowhere near his prime) I can see him being well on top early and really making Spence work for it.

Would be an amazing accomplishment by Pacquiao if he pulled this off. Will certainly reignite the Manny-Floyd debate given Mayweather's recent endeavours.

88Chris05 wrote:Anyone else slightly surprised at how big an underdog Pacquiao appears to be with the bookies (and in turn the fans / pundits) for this one? 7/2 seems to be the going rate for him to win at the moment and most of the commentariat are in line with that.

Seems to me they are basically assuming that Pacquiao's long layoff combined with his age will make him a shell by the time that bell rings. It might well do....But this is Pacquiao we're talking about. Phenomenal specimen and tremendously skilled.

The layoff is a concern but let's assume he hasn't lost all that much since 2018/2019. I'd take the Pacquiao of the Matthysse fight, or the first half of the Thurman fight, to beat Spence. He struggled a bit in the second half of that Thurman encounter, seemingly a combination of age, possibly punching himself out a bit with all his work in rounds one to five and, to be fair to him, Thurman also boxing a lot more smartly and upping his game (I thought it ended up being a pretty creditable effort from Thurman given the nightmare start he had).

I can see why all that points to a Spence win, but I just wonder if we're being a bit hasty writing Pacquiao off. Spence is hittable and didn't look all that great against Garcia, albeit it was still a solid performance and you have to factor in it was his first fight back after those injuries he sustained in the car crash. Spence is a very big Welter who'll have a considerable weight advantage come fight night, and he's tough, so he may end up just walking Pacquiao down and overpowering him. But if Pacquiao is still at his 2018 / 2019 level (which in itself is nowhere near his prime) I can see him being well on top early and really making Spence work for it.

Would be an amazing accomplishment by Pacquiao if he pulled this off. Will certainly reignite the Manny-Floyd debate given Mayweather's recent endeavours.

If Manny wins there's going to be a Mayweather Pacquaio 2. Easiest way for Floyd to get daylight in the greatness stakes and probably another insane payday for both