By Chris Williams: Terence Crawford will be fighting on December 14 possibly against #1 WBO contender Egidijus Kavaliauskas, according to Top Rank boss Bob Arum. Whether Crawford (35-0, 26 KOs) faces Kavaliauskas (21-0-1, 17 KOs) will depend on if the World Boxing Organization orders the fight.
Kavaliauskas, 31, fought to a controversial 10 round draw in his last fight against fringe contender Ray Robinson last March. A lot of fans thought Robinson deserved the victory, as did Boxing News 24. It looked like a clear win for Robinson.
Arum likely has no problems whatsoever with Crawford, 31, fighting the little known Kavaliauskas, because it’s a fight that has been talked about for a while. It’s a no risk fight for Crawford similar to most of his fights during his career. That’s one of the reasons why Crawford hasn’t become a star. It’s fights like this that will make it difficult for Crawford to get a 50-50 split against IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. in the future.
👑 Terence Crawford’s next fight is now being planned for Dec 14th at MSG, Bob Arum has revealed. The promoter added that Egidijus Kavaliauskas will be the opponent if the WBO force a mandatory. Carl Frampton and Michael Conlan also targeted to return on this show. [@TalkBOX_]
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) August 20, 2019
Crawford lacking a signature win on his resume
If Crawford faces the 31-year-old Kavaliauskas, this would arguably be the best win of his 11-year pro career, and that’s disappointing. Despite unifying the 140 pound division, Crawford has faced no one special. His best win to date was against Viktor Postol, a tall, light hitting fighter from Ukraine. Postol, 35, lost a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision to Josh Taylor in June of 2018.
Taylor did a better job of beating Postol than Crawford did. Some boxing fans think Crawford left the 140 pound division, because he saw that Taylor, Regis Prograis and Jose Ramirez were coming up, and he didn’t want that work. The timing of Crawford vacating his light welterweight titles is odd to say the least.
Recently, ESPN broadcaster Tim Bradley had been standing on his soap box, telling Errol Spence Jr. he should fight fight Crawford. Bradley feels pretty strong about it, and he even says that Spence is ducking Crawford. But it’s impossible for Spence to get motivated fighting Crawford when the best name on his resume is Postol.
These are Crawford’s best wins to date during his career:
- Viktor Postol
- Julius Indongo
- Ricky Burns
- Yuriorkis Gamboa
- Felix Diaz
- John Molina Jr.
- Jeff Horn
- Jose Benavidez
- Amir Khan
There’s nobody on Crawford’s resume that wouldn’t be food for Prograis, Taylor and Ramirez at 140. At 147, Crawford has beaten Benavidez, Khan and Jeff Horn. None of those guys are among the elite in the welterweight division. If Kavaliauskas is as good as it gets for Crawford, then Spence should put him B-list and focus on fighting guys are facing serious competition.