Who’s next up for Terence Crawford?

WBO Welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford ‏is currently in search for an opponent to challenge him next since he stopped Amir Khan back in April.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum stood next to me in May and said he was still holding out for Errol Spence to come around. His bargaining chip at the time was that he would be able to put the fight on pay-per-view.

That sales pitch was officially shut down for the time being when Mike Coppinger of The Athletic reported that a unification bout with fellow Premier Boxing Champion (PBC) stablemate Shawn Porter was made official for said pay-per-view. While Crawford-Spence is the battle we all want to see in the division, it’s going to have to come at a later date.

In the meantime, who is the next man up to face Bud?

The easy answer and all signs point to England’s Kell Brook. Brook for some reason or another, had to fight off rumors of retirement on his Twitter Tuesday by stating that he would be interested in Crawford and that his team was looking to lock in a big fight. With the other welterweights holding titles in PBC already booked, the biggest battle would be the with none other than the titleholder residing from Omaha, Nebraska.

A quick note for my fans and the boxing world#AllOfTheLights pic.twitter.com/cTwMNViR2Q

— Kell Brook (@SpecialKBrook) June 18, 2019

How about I throw a name out there no one else has mentioned? A complete long-shot but one not a lot of folks aren’t mentioning at all. That name is: “The New” Ray Robinson out of Philadelphia.

You mean the same Robinson, who is coming off back to back draws of Josh Kelly and Egidijus “Mean Machine” Kavaliauskas?  You must be under concussion protocol or haven’t passed VADA testing yet have you, Marquis?

Let me explain myself before you get me psychiatric care on why I am naming Robinson.

Robinson, while he doesn’t have a win in his last two outings, has shown that he could be thrown and hang with the fierce competition. The previous two outings you could make a case that he won both contests in my opinion. Especially the last fight against Taylor on the Joshua-Ruiz card.

Secondly, don’t start with Kavaliauskas and how he is the number one contender for the WBO. Robinson fought him to a majority draw which in everyone’s eyes is a loss for the “Mean Machine” and that also they need to hook up the updated information on the current rankings. Robinson has been sitting on this list at fifteen since March and has had two bouts and surely has moved up since then.

While Kavaliauskas may still be despite that draw the actual Plan B in the event Brook falls through, that draw sent his stock down a waterslide and begs the question did Kavaliauskas show you anything worthy of a title shot against Robinson? You’d be hard pressed to say yes to this.

Lastly, if you don’t remember who was the last person who beat Crawford in the amateurs, I’ll give you the answer.

Robinson.

“I’m the last person to beat Terence Crawford in the amateurs, and that’s the fight I want,” Robinson stated after the fight with Kavaliauskas. 

Crawford who hasn’t lost a professional contest in thirty-five outings can avenge the last man who beat him before becoming arguably one of the best pound for pound fighters in the sport today. Imagine the promotion ESPN can do with a story of revenge for Crawford after what they did recently for the Tyson Fury fight with Tom Schwarz.

I don’t think Brook turns down the chance at Crawford, but one thing is sure, Robinson isn’t a bad option either.