Manny Pacquiao has advised another fighter daring to be great at a disadvantage, as Terence Crawford faces a jump up in weight against Canelo Alvarez.
Crawford will have to wait until September 13th to square off with the undisputed champion, but he has been warned previously by Amir Khan that Canelo isn’t worth the risk.
But Pacquiao has done the same jump in weight as the American, so he understands what’s needed to hang in there with a bigger opponent.
The ‘PacMan’ has his work cut out for him against the Mexican, but Barrios has been warned of Pacquiao’s power by Chris Algieri.
Manny Pacquiao advises Terence Crawford to use his speed to beat Canelo
Now, the Filipino is providing advice of his own to ‘Bud’ when he steps in to face Alvarez, and the one key piece of advice he has given him is all about speed.
In a media scrum, ‘Pac’ was asked about the fight and he said: “Canelo Crawford, good fight.
“Canelo has an advantage because Crawford is moving up, but my advice to Crawford is to maintain the speed, improve the speed, because to go up in a higher weight and maintain your speed is the key.”
It was a difference maker for the 46-year-old when he traversed eight different weight classes to become world champion, so it makes sense for the Omaha fighter.
The 41-0 undefeated star has himself won titles, undisputed ones at that, in different divisions, so he is no stranger to performing wherever he finds himself.
Terence Crawford predicts a Pacquiao win and explains why their fight super fight never materialised
Of course, as he hung around the Ring III card in New York, he was inevitably asked about how he thinks Pacquiao vs Barrios will play out.
He said: “(Manny Pacquiao) I got him winning. I just think that the experience, the power, is going to take him to a victory.”
Previously, there was talk of the two fighting when Crawford was at 140 pounds, but the matchup fell through for one reason.
In a different interview, the former champion explained it was a performance in the ring, which saw the fight go nowhere.
“I fought Dierry Jean and that was possibly my coming out party to potentially fight Manny Pacquiao… I stopped him. Manny Pacquiao was nowhere to be seen,” he said.
“Freddie Roach knew how good I was because not only did I fight a couple of fighters he trained, Dierry Jean was one of Manny Pacquiao’s sparring partners as well.”
This fight is just another one of the modern-day style match-ups that fell through for one reason or another.
Errol Spence Jr was scheduled to face the returning welterweight from the Philippines when he tore his retina and was unable to compete.
The Freddie Roach-trained fighter then fought and lost against tough replacement Yordenis Ugas – his last fight as a professional before his return this weekend.