SPORTS SHORTS 107: TEDDY ATLAS SAYS FIGHT WITH TERENCE CRAWFORD COULD BE MANNY PACQUIAO'S SWAN SONG
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 17 Apr 2021
Former Mike Tyson trainer and renowned broadcaster Teddy Atlas said Terence Crawford will end the blockbuster boxing career of Manny Pacquiao should they clash in a mega pay-per-view championship showdown this year.
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Negotiations are now going on for Manny Pacquiao to make a boxing ring comeback after an absence of 23 months to challenge WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford on June 5. They are set to collide in the Middle East, waiting for a confirmation of the event to come any time soon.
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Atlas says that if it is for the welterweight title, it could be the swan song for Pacquiao after almost 25 years in the fight sport.
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If it is for his money, Pacquiao should look at another opponent and leave Crawford to face his nemesis at 147 pounds, stated Atlas. “I’d rather see Crawford with [Errol] Spence Jr. I’d rather see a young guy with a young guy,” he said on his podcast “The Fight with Teddy Atlas”.
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Atlas really believes if the Crawford fight pushes through then it would retire Pacquiao for good. He thinks the Omaha, Nebraska native is the number one active boxer in the world at present.
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“And I think it’s a bad fight for Pacquiao. I think it’s the last fight for Pacquiao. But I’d hate to see him go out that way. I think Crawford is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.”
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Citing the reason why Crawford would destroy Pacquiao inside the ring, Atlas declared: “He’s got, great trainers."
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Atlas says Crawford knows how to control the distance to shorten up his game. "Bud" can go inside and throw short punches to "hold the trenches if he has to."
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“He reminds me of Sugar Ray Leonard, but he was a mean guy when it came down to the fight. Crawford has that streak in him," continued Atlas.
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Atlas says he thinks at this point in Pacquiao’s career at 42, it’s the wrong fight for him. He adds that Crawford is the wrong style, the wrong talent to clash with at this point when Pacquiao is past his prime.
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Aside from Tyson, Atlas has also trained Chris Reid, Jimmy McMahon, Timothy Bradley, Felix Santiago, Donny Lalonde, Michael Moorer, Barry McGuigan, Michael Grant, Alexander Povetkin and Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
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Top Rank and Bob Arum are doing everything to get the fight happen in a difficult time for everyone to see. The 33-year-old Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) is the better alternative to the original intended foe Conor McGregor.
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The McGregor defeat to Dustin Poirier aborted the Pacquiao matchup with the MMA star. McGregor now focuses on a trilogy fight against Poirier.
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There's no official announcement on his next fight but Pacquiao is already practicing in General Santos City. He is doing light training on his own since February.
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Senator Pacquiao has called his trainers headed by Buboy Fernandez and Nonoy Neri to start his preparations for the pay-per-view blockbuster possibly against the undefeated World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Terence Crawford.
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Neri has been overseeing Pacquiao's light workouts including jogging, hitting the heavy punching bag, and punch mitt sessions. Fernandez was able to arrive GenSan on Monday because of his work as vice mayor of Polangui, Albay, according to Rappler.
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"He's still fast and strong," said Neri. "And he will become even stronger and faster as training progresses." Neri thinks Pacquiao is whipping himself up for a tough fight, most probably against the deadly Crawford.
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"It's a good matchup and we have to prepare hard for this," said Neri. "The Senator must be in optimum form against Crawford."
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Fernandez and Neri are the ones taking care of the early episode of Pacquiao's training regimen with head trainer Freddie Roach and conditioning coach Justin Fortune uniting with them before the middle part of the training camp.
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Joel Embiid scored 36 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as his Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 106-103. The 76ers fortified their lead at the Eastern Conference while the loss ended the Clippers' seven-game winning streak.
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Embiid became the first 76ers player since 2006 to score more than 35 points in three consecutive games. "I think he's clearly the MVP this season," said team-mate Ben Simmons as quoted by BBC Sports.
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The United States have clearly won the most Olympic gold medals and the most medals overall, almost double the next ranked country Germany. At third place is Soviet Union/USSR with fewer appearances at the Olympics, and actually won more medals on the average.
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The top 10 includes one country no longer in existence, the Soviet Union, so their medal totals will obviously not increase, however China is expected to continue a rapid increase in the ranks. China has moved up from 11th (in 2008) to 9th (2012) to 7th (2016).
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The country which has attended the most Olympic Games without a medal is Monaco with 20 Olympic Games. The country which has won the most medals without winning a gold medal is Malaysia (0 gold, 7 silver, 4 bronze).
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All-Time Medal Standings Based on Total Medals
Rank Team Games Gold-Silver-Bronze-Total
1 United States 27 1022-795-706-2523
2 Germany 24 428-444-474-1346
3 Soviet Union 10 440-357-325-1122
4 Great Britain 28 263-295-293-851
5 France 28 212-241-263-716
6 Italy 27 206-178-193-577
7 China 10 224-167-155-546
8 Australia 26 147-163-187-497
9 Sweden 27 145-170-179-494
10 Hungary 26 175-147-169-491
Tally by Top End Sports
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For Soviet Union, combining the results of USSR and the 1992 Unified Team. For Germany, combining the results of Germany, East Germany, West Germany, and the United Team of Germany.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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