Terence Crawford: ‘If I can’t get Spence, I want Pacquiao’

By Boxing News - 01/12/2020 - Comments

By Chris Williams:  No longer interested in fighting mere contenders, Terence Crawford says he wants Errol Spence Jr. OR Manny Pacquiao in his next fight. The unbeaten WBO welterweight champion Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) says he doesn’t care which of the two he fights next.

He just wants to fight them. If Crawford has things his way, he’ll face WBA Super World welterweight champion Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) and IBF/WBC champ Spence (26-0, 21 KOs) in back to back fights.

Crawford says he wants Spence and Pacquiao, but that’s obviously another pipe dream on his part. The real question is who Crawford’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank will be able to dig up for him. Crawford hasn’t fought a good opponent in the 6 years since his match with Yuriorkis Gamboa in 2014. Time flies, and it’s hard to believe that Crawford has CHEWED up 6 years of his career since then without fighting one talented fighter.

The cracks are starting to show in Crawford’s exterior, as he’s going off on social media, and taking it out on Spence for some reason. As most people already know, Spence was recently involved in a terrible car crash on October 10, and there’s questions whether he’ll ever be the same fighter.

Every opponent since then has been middle of the road level fighters for Terence. On the positive side, the soft match-making has kept Crawford winning. The negative is Crawford has yet to have a legacy building fight, and he is running out of time at 32.

Terence talks about Spence phone call

“I was just speaking facts, and I wasn’t speaking any faulty news or anything. I mean, I was speaking all facts,” said Crawford to Fighthype when asked about his recent social media Tweets about Errol Spence. “He saw that I was being irritated, and he grabbed my phone and he went Instagram live, and just let him do it. I was laughing,” said Crawford in commenting on his friend going on a rant on his Instagram channel on PBC fighters.

“You saw how it went, and how it transpired on Twitter, and on how I was going to call him,’ said Crawford about Spence. “So I called him up, and we talked briefly,” said Crawford.

Terence called Spence this past week to ask him for a fight. Crawford got worked up, and wanted an answer right away when/if Spence would fight him. Since Errol is still licking his wounds from his car crash, he wasn’t in a position to grant Crawford’s request for a fight straightaway.

The best the Spence could offer Crawford was that the two would eventually fight. Given that Spence’s career situation is still murky at this point, Crawford could be waiting forever. That’s why it’s important for Crawford not to be turning down guys like Shawn Porter when they offer him a fight, because it’s not as if the Spence or Pacquiao fights are guaranteed.

At this point in Crawford’s career, he’s starting to sound picky for some reason. Maybe it’s the money he’s made or it could be that he’s beginning to realize that he’s in the twilight of his career. It’s literally now or never for Crawford. Obviously, Crawford should have made a move YEARS ago to get fights against the top PBC fighters rather than waiting now.

Crawford wants Spence or Pacquiao NEXT

“That was that. Listen, when things fall in place, that fight is going to happen. I’m looking at all of them,” said Crawford on Spence and Manny Pacquiao.

“Them are the two 1 and 2’s or the 2’s and 1’s or however you want to put it,” said Crawford on Spence and Pacquiao. “Those are the fights that I want at this point in my career, because those are the fights that get me to the undisputed. So those are the fights that I really want in my career, and are looking forward to. If I can’t get Spence, then I want Pacquiao or visa versa. It don’t matter. I would like them one after another,” said Crawford.

As soon as Spence was hurt in a car crash, Crawford came out of the woodwork and started calling him out. Why now? That’s the real question. Crawford isn’t going to get a fight against Pacquiao or Spence next, so he needs to be thinking in real terms.

Turning down the Shawn Porter fight was a senseless move on Crawford’s part, considering that would have immediately given him the chance to fight a guy better than anyone he’s ever faced. Only Crawford knows why he turned down the Porter fight. A lot of boxing fans think Crawford is afraid of Porter.

Josh Taylor NOT on Crawford’s radar right now

“He’s at 140 right now, and there’s no interest in that fight right now,” said Crawford when asked if he’d like to fight recently signed Top Rank fighter Josh Taylor. “But that’s not to say in the future, the near future, when he moves up, there would be interest. But like I like before, Spence and Pacquiao are on my radar as #1 and #2 fight right now.

“If neither one of those fights don’t happen, then we’ll go look elsewhere. When you’re great, they do that,” said Crawford when told that boxing fans want to see him fight at 154. “That shows how advanced I am, and levels above,” said Crawford.

Unbeaten light welterweight champion Josh Taylor (16-0, 12 KOs) says he thinks he’ll be moving up to 147 in 2021, and he’ll be targeting Crawford when he does. Hopefully, Crawford doesn’t turn the Taylor fight down like he did with Porter.

Is Crawford SPOILED?

It’s too early for Crawford to be acting like a spoiled fighter, because he’s still got 3 to 4 years left before he’s over-the-hill. Unfortunately, those years go fast. Four years ago, Crawford was fighting the likes of Henry Lundy, Viktor Postol and John Molina Jr. Not much has changed since then for Crawford.

If guys like Porter are willing to fight Crawford, then by all means, he should be accepting those types of fights. Having a temper tantrum just because Spence and Pacquiao aren’t available to fight Crawford is a bad look on his part.

Crawford willing to fight Danny Garcia

“That’s on him. Like I said, I’m willing to fight all those guys in the division,” said Crawford in reacting to Danny Garcia being his #1 ranked contender with the WBO. “He’s ranked #3, I believe or #1, you know? Make him the mandatory, and we can do what we do. I already fought him twice. We’re 1 and 1. It makes for a great fight,” said Crawford.

It’s safe to say that Danny Garcia WON’T be taking advantage of his #1 ranking with the World Boxing Organization. Garcia is with Premier Boxing Champions, and they’re not expected to let him cross the pond to fight Danny. It’s unclear why the WBO chose to rank Garcia at number 1, given the politics of boxing.

Crawford would obviously love to fight Danny, but it’s not going to happen. Moreover, Crawford’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank hasn’t shown a desire to match him with Danny. Arum doesn’t think it would be a competitive fight between them. His focus is on having Crawford fight Porter or Spence. But his hands are tied, because Crawford doesn’t want to fight Porter, and Spence is out of action.

Terence unable to predict Wilder vs. Fury 2 winner

“I’m 50-50 on that fight, like I was on the first fight,” said Crawford when asked about his opinion on the Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury rematch. “Tyson Fury is a tremendous talent, but at the same time, Deontay Wilder has got the indicator. Once he lays a hand on you, it’s night-night,” said Crawford.

It’s too bad Crawford isn’t willing to make a prediction on the Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury rematch, because a lot of fans would be interested in seeing them. Wilder isn’t shy about picking Spence to beat Crawford if/when the two fight each other.

Crawford to his haters: “KEEP HATING”

“Stay tuned for T-Bud Crawford, I’m on the rise, and all you haters out there, keep hating me, because I’m going to keep winning,” said Crawford.

Fans want to see Crawford take some risks with his career by moving up to 154 and 160 to take on guys that will increase his popularity. For some reason, Crawford views that as fans being ‘haters.’ Additionally, with Crawford’s weak career resume, some fans think he doesn’t deserve to be ranked highly in Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound rankings. They note that the best guy on Crawfords 12-year resume is the much smaller Gamboa.

 

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