Hall of Fame boxing commentator, Bob Sheridan, is one of the most iconic voices in the sport of boxing. He has announced some of the most memorable bouts and famous moments from the sport, including his one of a kind call for Mike Tyson’s upset loss to Buster Douglas. Having been in the sport for over forty years, Bob is going strong as ever heading into 2018.
In my interview with Bob Sheridan, I get his thoughts on the upcoming Jeff Horn vs. Terence Crawford bout that will happen early in 2018. Bob shares his views on Horn’s chances and what he thinks of Crawford’s rise in the sport. Bob also discusses a potential Manny Pacquiao vs. Conor McGregor fight, sharing his views on who wins and why. Additionally, Bob talks about the recent Billy Joe Saunders win over David Lemieux and looks forward the new boxing year. Here is what Bob Sheridan had to say.
Robert Brown: Bob, looking forward to next year, WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn will be taking on Terence Crawford. Do you give him a chance in that fight?
Bob Sheridan: I give him a chance because Horn is an extraordinary athlete, but I tell you, to move up to fight two of the best fighters in the world today, that’s a real tough road for Jeff Horn. From the money aspect of it, if Horn can make a good showing and even if he loses a close decision, he can get the rematch back in Australia if they can get Crawford in the country and that means a good pay day for Jeff, which is what professional boxing is all about.
In terms of beating Crawford, I got to see Jeff beat him before I believe it because Crawford amazes me as much as Lomachenko does. It was one of these situations where Top Rank was very smart in signing Jeff Horn because they immediately get the Pacquiao fight. In no way do they think Horn can upset Terence Crawford, but it was an organized bit of great promoting to get a piece of Jeff Horn so that they could get Crawford his first fight at 147lbs. We’ll find out just how good Jeff Horn is in a hurry. If Horn ever upset Crawford, then he’s on the map forever.
(Listen to the full Bob Sheridan Interview here)
Robert Brown: Bob, what are your thoughts on a potential Manny Pacquiao vs. Conor McGregor fight, do you think that fight makes any sense?
Bob Sheridan: I hear all the rumors, that is a big payday, I hear even that Oscar DeLaHoya wants the fight, I mean everybody wants to fight him because he represents a big payday. What boxing fans and the boxers forget is that Pacquiao had as much to do with getting a huge crowd as what happened when he fought Mayweather. Mayweather is a huge huge star coming out of retirement and he had as much to do on the international scene, drawing those huge amounts of fans. I mean four million people PPV, that’s incredible, so you got to remember that in terms of the business end of it.
If the fight could put together it’s great for McGregor and it would be great for Pacquiao at the end of the day. It’s a nothing to lose for Pacquiao fight, I mean I think Pacquiao would outbox him, the same as Mayweather did. You talk about everybody now in the UFC wants to fight in boxing because the paydays are bigger in boxing then they are in the UFC, so they want to invade into the boxing world as much they can and get one huge payday, that’s what it’s all about.
Robert Brown: So you believe that Manny Pacquiao has enough left to beat a Conor McGregor pretty easily?
Bob Sheridan: Yeah, you got to remember Conor McGregor is a great UFC guy but he’s only an average fighter. He’s a very tough kid, kind of like Corcoran was against Horn, but toughness won’t get you all the way to the finish line. Manny Pacquiao is not a shot fighter, he’s just over the top, he’s not shot.
Manny would do very very well against the MMA fighter and I think it would be another really good promotion, I think people would like it and I think it would make a lot of money. I think it would make a lot of sense for Pacquiao at this stage of his career and certainly for McGregor because here he would be in his second professional boxing fight and make hundreds of millions of dollars.
Robert Brown: We just had a fight between Billy Joe Saunders and David Lemieux. What did you think of Saunders’ win?
Bob Sheridan: He certainly had a great night. I haven’t had the privilege of calling any of Billy Joe’s fights in England, so I hadn’t seen a lot of him. The fight in Montreal, he was superior. Lemieux is a puncher, and being a southpaw with a great jab, I think Billy Joe really took him to school. Because of that fight, Billy Joe now vaults himself into a situation where he has to be taken really seriously by the other guys in the division because Billy Joe showed that he can really box.
In the middleweight division, Lemieux was actually ranked ahead of him in Ring Magazine. You got Daniel Jacobs, Gennady Golovkin, Canelo Alvarez, and in any of those fights you have to say that Billy Joe has a shot, where I didn’t believe that before. The way he boxed in Montreal, he put on a great performance, he controlled every round of the fight against a guy who is a dangerous puncher.
As far as I’m concerned, Saunders has vaulted himself onto the international scene as a great fighter holding the only title that Golovkin doesn’t hold in the middleweight division. I would love to see that fight, I’d love to see him against Canelo Alvarez. Those are the two big money fights for Saunders and he’s lined up for it right now.
Robert Brown: How much of a chance do you give Saunders against those top guys in the division?
Bob Sheridan: I would give him a chance. I think that he’d have a chance in those fights. It’s a thing like Jeff Horn moving up to fight one of the very best fighters in the world. I think the money fight for Saunders would be Gennady Golovkin, although if they fought in the Mexican super holiday here against Canelo Alvarez, that’s a huge money fight for him too.
Either one of those fights would be great for Billy Joe. Now I got a completely different outlook based on his performance against David Lemieux. Look at all of these great fights we are talking about for 2018, boxing had a really good 2017 and 2018 looks even better.
I think manny pacquiao could knockout connor in the first round if he wants to motherfuckers!
pacquiao has old enough as faded fighter