Terence Crawford Files Lawsuit Against Top Rank

We got our first boxing lawsuit of the year, and it involves two familiar faces and WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford.

Crawford files a lawsuit in Nevada seeking $10 million?

The trusted New York Post was 1st with the story claiming that the reigning champion filed a lawsuit for roughly $10 million Wednesday in the Eighth District Court against promoter Bob Arum and Top Rank Boxing for $10 million claiming “revolting racial bias.” In comparison, the race card is what got all of us clicking what the Post is reporting. The legal filing is a breach of contract, hidden snugly in the clickbait at the Post.

 “Crawford shines a spotlight on the systemic racism that runs through Top Rank, Top Rank’s complete inability to properly promote Black fighters, and Top Rank, Arum and [his stepson] Todd DuBoeuf’s disparate treatment of Black fighters, including Crawford,” the lawsuit in the Post reports.

The Post in their story went down the rabbit hole of Arum’s past lawsuits and treatment of previous fighters with boxers such as Floyd Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya. The underlying factor in the suit is the decade-long partnership between Crawford and Top Rank was a poor one.

 “Tellingly, Arum has not subjected any of his white fighters to this kind of vicious, vengeful treatment. Clearly, Arum feels he is entitled to profit indefinitely off Crawford and other Black fighters, and he will retaliate whenever they dare to assert their independence,” Crawford stated in the lawsuit.

“In this action, Crawford seeks to right the wrongs inflicted on him by Top Rank. Top Rank has repeatedly breached its contracts with Crawford, and in fact, defrauded him into entering agreements in the first place.”

The lawsuit concludes, “Since Top Rank … will not police themselves, do the right thing and move forward as a responsible business in 2022, Crawford, who backs down to no one, will make them do so … Arum has made millions off the backs of boxers of color, including Black boxers. His racist attitudes pervade every aspect of his dealings with Black boxers like Crawford.”

The lawsuit even has my favorite quote from Bob Arum when he spoke against the UFC in the suit. You know the one.

Don’t you? One time, Arum went on to label UFC fans “a bunch of skinhead white guys watching people in the ring who also look like skinhead white guys” and stated that the fighters are “guys rolling around like homosexuals on the ground.”

If you’re new to boxing, that interview tends to refloat ever so often, Lately whenever people argue if MMA or Boxing is a better sport on social media. That whole interview below is pretty much 4/5 of the lawsuit that Crawford filed.

So what is the endgame here?

Without consulting the law site Conduct Determential as this goes to publish, these accusations look on the outside looking in to be more of matter looking to for additional revenue that Crawford and his legal team felt that Arum is either hiding from him or didn’t give him. See how the race angle holds up in court, but it is worth noting that suit states that they have failed to make Crawford a pay-per-view star, something we found out in the last few PPVs headlined by the Omaha welterweight.

I’m interested in seeing how far this goes, but non-attorney reading here reads like a classic “show me the books” filing here—going to see how the racial bias angles play out considering that Top Rank the past six months since his debut has all but made Nico Ali Walsh, the grandson of Muhammad Ali literally and visually at nauseam lately. Also, despite Arum’s claims of losing money was one of Top Rank’s more popular fighters.

Arum has said 8 million wacky things in his age over the past 20 years, and Crawford is hoping that can translate into lost compensation. Crawford is currently a promotional free agent. With Tim Smith, Communications Head from Premier Boxing Champions, coming out once again and saying “economics” are stopping the mega-fight with Errol Spence, money has to come somewhere.

Will It Be from the 8th district? Time will tell.