Crawford: Bradley will beat Pacquiao in third fight

Manny Pacquiao, right, of the Philippines, and Timothy Bradley trade blows in their WBO welterweight title boxing fight Saturday, April 12, 2014, in Las Vegas. Pacquiao won by unanimous decision. AP

Shunned from the Manny Pacquiao sweepstakes, Terence Crawford is picking Timothy Bradley to win over the Filipino ring icon to cap off their trilogy.

In a report on BoxingScene.com, the WBO junior welterweight champion said he was definite that Bradley “is going to win.”

Asked to expound, Crawford just bluntly said, “Because he’s going to win.”

Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs) and Bradley (33-1-1, 13 KOs, 1 NC) will face off for the third time on April 9 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, in what would probably be Pacquiao’s final fight.

Crawford (27-0, 19 KOs), meanwhile, will go up against Hank Lundy (26-5-1, 13 KOs) on February 27 in The Theater at Madison Square Garden.

The undefeated champ is among the minority that believes Bradley deserved the win in the first fight, which ended in a controversial split decision back in June 2012.

“I thought he won,” said Crawford. “I didn’t score the fight. I just watched the fight and I can’t remember the score. But I know he won.”

In all fairness, Crawford also thinks that Pacquiao won the second fight on April 2014, a unanimous decision win, which was Bradley’s first professional defeat.

“(Bradley) lost the second fight. He was winning the early rounds, and he changed up his game plan. I think he hurt Pacquiao early, in the second round, and he just started going for the knockout after he hurt his calf.”

Despite falling to earn the right to challenge the eight division world champ for a fight, Crawford admits that he is happy that Bradley, whom he considers as a close friend, got the nod.

“Tim deserves it,” he said. “Tim is one of those fighters who’s been putting his life on the line his whole career, beat a lot of good fighters and did a lot of great things in boxing, and never got the credit he deserves. Never.”