Pacquiao not surprised by Crawford's KO of Horn

MANILA, Philippines – Manny Pacquiao on Monday said he already expected an explosive performance by Terence Crawford against Jeff Horn in their WBO welterweight title fight in Las Vegas Sunday.

The undefeated Crawford stopped Horn in the ninth round to become the new WBO welterweight champion, a title that once belonged to Pacquiao.

Incidentally, it was Horn who took the same belt away from Pacquiao when the Australian stunned the Filipino icon with a disputed decision in Brisbane last year.

Pacquiao and Horn were supposed to figure in a rematch but for various reasons, the fight did not push through, with both boxers going their separate ways. Horn eventually ended up crossing paths with Crawford, and Pacquiao is instead shooting for a different world title — the WBA welterweight strap held by Argentine Lucas Matthysse.

Horn entered the ring Sunday as the heavy underdog against Crawford (33-0, with 24 KOs), who is currently among the top pound-for pound fighters today.

The 30-year-old American impressed with a one-sided beatdown of Horn, which came as no surprise to boxing observers — including Pacquiao.

“As expected, Crawford won the fight by knockout. ‘Yon talaga nangyari,” Pacquiao, who is currently training in General Santos City, told Philstar.com in a text message.

Even before Pacquiao took on Horn, there had been conversations about a showdown between the fighting senator and Crawford — a fight deemed by many to be too dangerous for the ageing Pacquiao. These talks will likely resurface if Pacquiao gets past Matthysse in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 15.

Pacquiao, however, is non-committal about the prospect of unifying titles with Crawford in the future.

“I don't know yet. It's still too early to talk about it,” added Pacquiao, obviously focused on preparing well to dethrone Matthysse.

Pacquiao struggled against the bigger Horn, whereas Crawford easily dealt with the Australian slugger. Such is an indication that a prime Crawford may be too much for Pacquiao at this point.

And if Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz will exclusively call the shots, a Pacquiao-Crawford bout will not happen.

“I do not like the style of Crawford for Manny,” Koncz told Philstar.com.