Bob Sheridan: “One punch can change the Chagaev fight immediately, so I think Lucas Browne has a shot!’

Bob Sheridan is a highly respected boxing commentator and Hall of Famer who has called boxing events for over 40 years. Sheridan works many of the international boxing telecasts and is getting closer to his 1000th world title fight behind the mic. “The Colonel” is still to this day one of the best in the business and is considered by some as the voice of boxing.

I recently had a chance to catch up with Bob Sheridan to get his views on some of the most interesting topics going on in the sport. Bob talks about who he thinks should be next for Manny Pacquiao and how potential fights with Crawford and Khan would go. Sheridan gives his thoughts on a Mayweather-Pacquiao rematch and if he thinks Floyd is really retired. Additionally, Bob talks about the heavyweight division and a Chagaev-Browne bout. Here is what Bob Sheridan had to say.

Robert Brown: Manny Pacquiao will be having his final fight with either Terence Crawford or Amir Khan. Which fight would you rather see?

Bob Sheridan: I think that the business end of it would dictate Terence Crawford because Crawford is an up and coming star with Top Rank boxing and this is gonna be Manny’s final farewell as far as we know because he’s running for a senate position in The Philippines.

We think this is gonna be Manny’s last fight, so I think for the business end of it, Top Rank will lean towards Terence Crawford. It’s all about money. Amir Khan has been kind of stepped over and stepped to the side, but I think a better fight would be Terence Crawford against Pacquiao, I think it would be a sensational fight against a healthy Pacquiao.

Robert Brown: How would you assess Crawford’s chances against a healthy Pacquiao?

Bob Sheridan: That’s the million dollar question. We don’t know just how good Crawford is, he’s handled everybody they put in front of him, he can fight left handed and right handed. I’ve broadcasted several of his fights and he’s a tremendous athlete.

Manny is at the end of his career and for as great as he’s been, we don’t know how great he will be in his final fight. We know that he’s a great competitor, we know that he will get himself in great shape. If he’s one hundred percent healthy, it’s a war that has to happen and we’ll just see how Crawford would handle the pressure that Manny Pacquiao would put on him because usually it’s Crawford who is the pressure fighter.

Robert Brown: Do the Pacquiao that fought Floyd Mayweather is enough to beat Crawford, or does he have to be in better shape than that?

Bob Sheridan: No if he had that injury that he claims he had before the fight, then that Manny Pacquiao is not good enough to beat Terence Crawford. He would have to be in a one hundred percent physical condition to be able to beat Terence Crawford.

If Manny did beat Terence Crawford, who knows if Pacquiao would draw Mayweather out of retirement for a final fight. But that remains to be seen, that’s way down the line. The other factor is, if he gonna fight Crawford or is he gonna fight Amir Khan?

Robert Brown: Do you think it is possible for there to be a rematch between Pacquiao and Mayweather?

Bob Sheridan: Not really, I don’t really think so because Mayweather has been there and done that. I think Mayweather will come out for a 50th fight at some stage out of retirement, but I don’t think it’s gonna be against an opponent like a Golovkin or a Terence Crawford, I don’t know who it would be against. I don’t see Mayweather taking that kind of shot to losing his 50th fight, if and when he does decide to come out of retirement.

Right now Floyd says he’s gonna stay in retirement, he’s given up all his belts. You don’t know what he’s gonna do but he’s never done anything orthodox in his life, so we’ll see exactly what he will do.

Robert Brown: What do you make of Oscar De La Hoya’s comments about the sport being better off without Floyd Mayweather, and do you agree with them?

Bob Sheridan: First off, I admire Floyd Mayweather Jr. as one of great defensive fighters that ever lived. People say they want to see great boxing but that isn’t really what they want to see, they want to see the train wreck, they want to see reeling around the ring and going down two or three times, Hagler-Hearns type fights. Those are the types of fights people want to see.

Robert Brown: It looks like Lucas Browne is going to be fighting Ruslan Chagaev for the WBA regular belt. How do you assess Browne’s chances in this fight?

Bob Sheridan: In my opinion, in the heavyweight division anything can happen at any time. When guys are that big and hit that hard, one punch can change the fight immediately, so I think Lucas has a shot.

I’m a little bit disappointed with the way the WBA handles it’s titles because it has sort of watered down what winning world championships is all about. The idea of an interim and a regular and super champion, I think it’s too much. But that aside, I think boxing is what it is and we have to cover the sport the way it’s presented to us and that’s very controversial by a lot of writers in the United States.

I think Browne has a shot. Chagaev is a very good fighter but Lucas is too. I think Lucas Browne at least gives the hope and at least has the interest for Australian boxing fans that he could possibly pull this off and get in the win column for a heavyweight championship.