By Chris Williams: Terence Crawford appears to be on board with his promoter Bob Arum’s plans of trying to setup 2 fights against UFC star Conor McGregor. Arum is a little late in the game in throwing Crawford’s name in the hat for a fight against the Irish fighter McGregor, since he’s already got his sights set on facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao in 2020.
It’s likely that McGregor will get a fight against one of those two big names this year. If McGregor can’t get a fight against either of those stars, then Crawford would be a potential third option for him.
If Arum could swing a deal for McGregor to fight Crawford, it would give him his biggest career payday by far. However, it wouldn’t likely be a huge event like McGreor’s 2017 fight against Mayweather, which brought in 4.3 million pay-per-view buys. Crawford isn’t that kind of a star, and McGregor might not want to waste time fighting him.
On Tuesday, the Top Rank promoter Arum made it known that he’s interested in having WBO welterweight champion Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) fight McGregor in 2 fights involving one under the rules of boxing, and the other in the MMA.
Crawford signals willingness to face McGregor
Arum didn’t mention which order the fights would go, but it’s likely the first would be a boxing match.
“@danawhite do I need to get my MMA gloves ready?” said @terencecrawford.
It goes without saying that Crawford, 32, would have an easy time defeating McGregor in a boxing match. However, it would be a different story in a fight inside the cage. McGregor is so dangerous with his kicks, elbows and his take down skills. He also defends well against opponents that try to take him to the mat.
Arum states that Crawford has a background in wrestling, and believes that would serve him well in a fight against McGregor. With McGregor’s expertise in jiu-jitsu, he would only need to get his hands on Crawford ONCE to end the fight. That’s how good McGregor is. If he grabs Crawford, the fight would be over if he chooses to put him in a submission hold or use his ground and pound finishing skills.
Arum wants Crawford to fight McGregor TWICE
“I’d love to have Crawford fight Conor McGregor, once MMA rules, and once boxing rules.” said Arum to Talkboxing Podcast. “I think Crawford has a wrestling background, and he wouldn’t be averse to fighting McGregor with MMA and UFC rules,” said Arum. “We’ll be pursuing it with Dana White,” said Arum.
The fans don’t want to see Crawford fight McGregor in a boxing ring or the octagon. They want Arum to put together a unification fight against IBF/WBC welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. or Shawn Porter. Crawford has already ruled out a fight with Porter for some reason.