Terence Crawford Omaha Return Creating Buzz

WBO world welterweight champ Terence Crawford is scheduled to defend his title coming December 10th and it’s not surprising that Crawford’s return to his hometown of Omaha, NE, is creating “buzz,” including with early ticket sales.

Next Gen Boxing, Bash Boxing and BLK Prime who are all involved in the upcoming Crawford defense against against veteran David Avanesyan released a statement Wednesday afternoon proclaiming that ticket sales have moved quickly and a sellout in the 17,000+ seat CHI Health Center arena is anticipated.

From their release,

“Terence Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs) vs. David Avanesyan (29-3-1, 17 KOs) is proving to be one of the hottest tickets in America this holiday season. The December 10th clash at the CHI Health Center, in Omaha, Nebraska, available on BLK Prime PPV, for the affordable price of $39.99, has already sold 9,500 tickets to the mega-fight. Nearly half of the arena is sold out within days of the tickets going on sale.

“Terence Crawford is a cultural icon and an American boxing superstar, and his fans in Omaha are showing just how big of a star he is,” said Sam Katkovski, a representative for BLK Prime. “This fight will have an amazing atmosphere and show the world how much combat-sports fans enjoy seeing Terence Crawford in the ring.”

At the current pace, the event is on schedule to sell out before fight week. The heightened demand to see Crawford fight in his hometown shows the star power he has locally.

“The fans want to see Crawford,” continued Katkovski. “He is the best fighter in the world and has been out of the ring for too long. The city of Omaha is showing tremendous support for Terence, and they’re getting their exclusive opportunity to attend a world-class fight right in their backyard.”

Frustrated with what he has described as a lack of transparency on the money for a proposed undisputed welterweight showdown with unified champ Errol Spence, Crawford announced late last month that he would go ahead and get a title defense in for 2022 on his own and back in front of his fans.

Crawford returns to familiar place

Crawford previously fought in a raucous environment in that same arena in October 2018. That’s when he headlined the ESPN/Top Rank Boxing show from Omaha and stopped Jose Benavidez Jr. in the 12th and final round

Crawford also fought at the CHI Health Center defending his unified 140 lb. titles in a TKO win over John Molina Jr. in June 2016.

In his most recent defense, Crawford fought former WBC welterweight title holder Shawn Porter in Las Vegas last November scoring another TKO in the 12th round. He has also fought in title defenses in 2019 and early 2020 at Madison Square Garden.

Bigger than the arena sales is will be what, if any, significant PPV sales Crawford and BLK Prime will do for his bout. Since he’s left and is now suing Top Rank and promoter Bob Arum, Crawford is promoting this bout without them and ESPN’s powerful promotional abilities behind him.

BLK is offering Crawford-Avaneysan through their website for $39.95.