WBO Welterweight Champ Crawford- “best supposed to fight the best”
It’s clear that WBO Welterweight Champion Terence “Bud” Crawford is frustrated and on the outside looking in for a possible huge unified title fight pay-per-view with any of the Premier Boxing Champion Fighters. However, Crawford made it clear, again, Saturday night that it’s not his doing, and he doesn’t understand why he can’t fight the best.
Crawford appeared on the DAZN streaming service broadcast of Saturday night’s championship doubleheader in Arlington, TX, headlined by Jose Ramirez’s 6th round TKO upset of Maurice Hooker. In an interview with Chris Mannix of DAZN, Crawford wanted fans to know that he’s not the one standing in the way of a possible fight with either Manny Pacquiao or Errol Spence in the near future.
"This is boxing .. the best are supposed to fight the best. That's it." – @TerenceCrawford ?️? pic.twitter.com/J75JaE9mFn
— DAZN USA (@DAZN_USA) July 28, 2019
“Back in the days, you never heard fighters say, ‘across the street’ (different promotion). What street? This is boxing. Everybody fight everybody (sic). Maurice (Hooker) is with DAZN, Roc Nation (promoter). Ramirez is with Top Rank. What street?”
Crawford concluded with message about PBC, “They go the rights to do what they want (sic). There’s no street, line, nothing. It’s Boxing. The best supposed to fight the best. That’s it.”
He has a point. However, Crawford also signed a long term contract with Top Rank Boxing and ESPN.
And, as we wrote about coming off of last weekend’s Pacquiao victory on pay-per-view over Keith Thurman in Las Vegas, the Premier Boxing Champions broadcast on Fox went out of their way to never show or mention Crawford or any other WBO champion. This is a PBC mindset, as they do not recognize the World Boxing Organization as legitimate and won’t do business with them or their championship fighters.
Still, Crawford is clearly one of the premier smaller weight fighters in the world. And, has more than proven it in multiple title defenses in multiple divisions, while remaining undefeated.
Further, throughout the history of boxing the great’s have always been given that status because they’re willing to fight and then defeat other good or great Fighters.
The names Leonard, Hearns, Duran and Hagler all come to mind and they all fought each other in the early to late 1980s multiple times.
So, we may eventually see Crawford get in the ring with one of the PBC Stars, but it’s obvious that Al Haymon, who owns and operates the organization, has no intention of letting him get in the middle of what is playing out the rest of this year.
That is to say: that Errol Spence will be fighting Shawn Porter for a unified portion of the Welterweight title pay-per-view in September and it appears that Spence could then likely become the opponent for Manny Pacquiao on another pay-per-view in early 2020.
They are PBC fighters with the titles, the name recognition and the money behind them.
All the while, Crawford must sit back and wait for a mega name and pay day in his division to be interested in working out a deal with he and his promoter Bob Arum and Top Rank Boxing.
Top Rank did get him on ESPN pay per view for his title defense win over Amir Khan at Madison Square Garden in May.
Still, despite all hurdles with promoters, opposing TV outlets, etc. clearing with Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao (whom Arum promoted at the time) in 2015, don’t hold your breath that anytime soon Crawford gets in the ring with Pacquiao or Spence.
A veteran broadcaster of over 25 years, T.J. has been a fight fan longer than that! He’s the host of the “Big Fight Weekend” podcast and will go “toe to toe” with anyone who thinks that Marvin Hagler beat Sugar Ray Leonard or that Tyson, Lennox Lewis or Deontay Wilder could have beaten Ali!
