Hearn in talks with Pacquiao about fighting on DAZN

Pacquiao still has enough to beat any B or A- in the game. At 39, when he built his early career of speed and athleticism, it is neat to see him use some good boxing tricks to keep himself around. If this was 10 years ago he runs the table on the whole WW division that we see today. But it's not. Spence and Crawford are in their primes and thus win, but the rest probably lose even if it is razor close. Actually, I hate to admit this but Amir Khan could give Pac some problems if he boxes with Khan and doesn't mix it up with him. The more you think about it, the more there is some truth to it.
 
wilddeuces said:
If this was 10 years ago he runs the table on the whole WW division that we see today.
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Not saying I disagree with you but what makes you so certain a Prime Pac would run through Spence and Crawford? Based off what wins at 147? Weight drained zombie Oscar? Weight drained Margarito? Ricky Hatton who was decent but not THAT decent? Old Mosley? Marquez who was a small welterweight like himself? Cotto was a good win and Pac is a great fighter P4P but at welterweight I am not so sure he would run through Crawford and Spence. There's a difference between saying he could beat them and then saying he runs through them.
 
Julius_Caesar said:
Not saying I disagree with you but what makes you so certain a Prime Pac would run through Spence and Crawford? Based off what wins at 147? Weight drained zombie Oscar? Weight drained Margarito? Ricky Hatton who was decent but not THAT decent? Old Mosley? Marquez who was a small welterweight like himself? Cotto was a good win and Pac is a great fighter P4P but at welterweight I am not so sure he would run through Crawford and Spence. There's a difference between saying he could beat them and then saying he runs through them.
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while i do think you're selling some of those people a bit short, i also don't think anyone runs through crawford or spence.
 
Who have Crawford and Spence beat? Nobody above a b level fighter.
 
Julius_Caesar said:
Not saying I disagree with you but what makes you so certain a Prime Pac would run through Spence and Crawford? Based off what wins at 147? Weight drained zombie Oscar? Weight drained Margarito? Ricky Hatton who was decent but not THAT decent? Old Mosley? Marquez who was a small welterweight like himself? Cotto was a good win and Pac is a great fighter P4P but at welterweight I am not so sure he would run through Crawford and Spence. There's a difference between saying he could beat them and then saying he runs through them.
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Man, I guess we can chop apart anybody's record, if we really want to. Let's do Lennox Lewis next. Or Mayweather.

Thing is, Pacquiao did enough and showed enough. The only question mark that won't be answered for a while is what Spence and Crawford can actually do against elite level guys. Crawford's best win was Gamboa? Burns was good. Spence beat Brook but the fight was split going into round it was stopped. What happens when Crawford gets bullied by a guy that cuts the ring and has real craft? Or when someone doesn't let Spence step into them? Because his jab is kinda predictable and he doesn't cut off the ring very well. Because Pac has been there and back against all styles; those two haven't been. He is a known quantity.

I will be clear and say we are waiting on Spence and Crawford to elevate their competition (not wholly their faults). I think they are good fighters and I want to see more. We - fans and critics alike - need to give both of them more time.

So I think they are the guys to beat at 147, but I also think Pacquaio from 2009 would be an undeniable favourite. He wins on the regular. He was so good there were years of bullshit excuses from both sides for him and Mayweather not fighting (Mayweather is that damn good too, yes, obviously. I hope this doesn't cue some bullshit tangent debate from others that crave Mayweather's pickle and get offended here).

Pacquiao was that good. Unbeatable? No. Better than the ones today? Yes. And there is no nostalgia filter here, I wasn't watching boxing at his peak. My knowledge required going back through uploaded fights.

Edit: if runs the table was too much a phrase, and I can understand, I say he beats them and I feel real good about that pic.
 
Julius_Caesar said:
Not saying I disagree with you but what makes you so certain a Prime Pac would run through Spence and Crawford? Based off what wins at 147? Weight drained zombie Oscar? Weight drained Margarito? Ricky Hatton who was decent but not THAT decent? Old Mosley? Marquez who was a small welterweight like himself? Cotto was a good win and Pac is a great fighter P4P but at welterweight I am not so sure he would run through Crawford and Spence. There's a difference between saying he could beat them and then saying he runs through them.
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He actually fought Ricky at 140 iirc.

I'd pick the Pac that beat Margarito to beat 2018 Spence. Not for stylistic reasons, necessarily, but because the Cotto fight showed that Pac could outbox a good boxer and the Margarito fight showed he was tough enough to have a much bigger guytry to bully him around and still kick his ass. No one beat Pac trying to walk him down; anyone who tried got countered into oblivion. I think Spence would do better than Oscar or Margarito, but I think he'd still fall for similar traps and end up fighting at Manny's preferred range. The big "what if" is if Spence can get to Manny's body. Pac didn't like that against Margarito and it would be a lot worse against Errol. I'm not sure Spence could get to him enough, but slowing down Manny's legs is going to be his best shot.

Crawford is a different story because he's a good sized welterweight and has a really high ring IQ. I think it takes that kind of person to beat Manny at that point in his career.




Your question cuts two ways, as well. Who has Crawford beat that makes you think he can beat Manny? Who has Spence beat that's anywhere near that level? If we're judging based solely on accomplishment, then Manny is #1 by a longshot. So obviously we all - even you - are doing a little bit of assessment independent of their established resumes.
 
I wasn't saying a prime Pac could not beat them but I just wanted to know why he was so sure Pac would run through them
 
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