Terence Crawford thinks Manny Pacquiao will beat Mario Barrios in their upcoming fight. The undisputed welterweight champion shared his prediction in a recent interview with Boxing Social.
Crawford said, "I'm betting on Manny. I just think the experience and the power. That's going to carry him to victory."
This prediction marks a change from Crawford's stance a month ago. Back then, he told Sporting News Australia he saw the fight as a 50-50 matchup, mainly due to Pacquiao's age. Crawford's new confidence in Pacquiao might come from seeing something in the Filipino legend's training.
Pacquiao, now 46, is getting ready for a big comeback to boxing. He's been out of the ring for almost four years. His last win came against Keith Thurman in 2019, and his most recent fight was a loss to Yordenis Ugas.
The PacMan has been working hard to prepare for his return. He's shared training videos and photos on social media. He's even tried to pump himself up by copying Rocky, using the movie's famous song in his posts.
Barrios, the current WBC welterweight champion, is 16 years younger than Pacquiao. This age gap has made some boxing fans wonder if Pacquiao can still put on a good show.
But Crawford isn't the only one who believes in Pacquiao. Other figures in the sport have faith in the Filipino legend too.
We'll have to wait until the weekend to see if Pacquiao was really ready for this comeback or if it was just clever marketing. One thing's for sure - there's been a lot of talk about Pacquiao's return on social media.
