By Chris Williams: Bob Arum of Top Rank took a shot at Oscar De La Hoya when reminded about his comment on his fighter Terence Crawford, who he said will probably never make it to the Boxing Hall of Fame because he can’t get him fights.
Arum is trying to find the next opponent for the WBO welterweight champion Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) and he’s looking down the road towards when light welterweights Josh Taylor, Jose Ramirez, and Regis Prograis eventually move up to 147. He seems to think that’ll happen soon, but if not, then Crawford will have to wait until then for some or all of those fights to happen.
Just who Arum will match Crawford against in 2020 is unknown at this point. That’s the magic question.
Canelo vs. Crawford interests Arum
De La Hoya was amused recently when Arum mentioned Crawford moving up to 160 and potentially facing Canelo Alvarez if the Mexican star can get back down to that weight class.
“If Canelo could get down t 160, that would be a huge fight,” said Arum to Fighthype on him wanting to match Crawford against Canelo at 160. “Canelo and Crawford at 160.”
“Bob, come on,” De La Hoya said when told that Arum is interested in matching Crawford against Canelo.
The chances of Canelo fighting Crawford in this lifetime are about nil. It’s not happening, and De La Hoya makes that clear with his comment.
Arum slams De La Hoya
“I pay no attention, a do most people, we don’t pay attention to what Oscar says. Oscar is not functioning normally,” said Arum to Fighthub. “That’s part of the reason why Canelo is going sideways with him. You cannot have an addictive personality and habits like Oscar has and function normally, and I don’t want to say anything further on that,” said Arum in talking about De La Hoya.
Oscar thinks that Arum wants Canelo, and he was having fun mentioning that to the media recently.
“Bob Arum was fantasizing about Canelo. He was like salivating over him, right?” said De La Hoya. “He has Crawford. What is he doing for him? He’s not doing anything for him. I actually feel kind of bad that Crawford might not get to the Hall of Fame one day because Bob can’t get him a fight,” said De La Hoya.
In 2019, Crawford fought Amir Khan and Egidijus Kavaliauskas. Two years ago, Crawford fought Jeff Horn and Jose Benavidez Jr. None of those guys are big names at 147, although Khan used to a name a decade ago before his career dried up.
One problem that Crawford and Top Rank has is how the top fighters in boxing are separated between different promoters and networks. This isn’t like the NFL or NBA where you’ve got me organization in charge of the teams. All the teams end up facing each other in those leagues. In boxing, that doesn’t happen.
A lot of the top fighters never compete against top guys that are promoted by different promoters and fight on different networks. Crawford is experiencing that, which is why he still hasn’t fought a big name yet during his 12-year career. The biggest name on Crawford’s resume is Yuriorkis Gamboa
Pacquiao WON’T fight Crawford
“Manny Pacquiao won’t fight him,” said Arum. “I don’t want Manny to fight him because it’s a devastation, and I have a sore spot for Manny,” said Arum on Pacquiao not an option for Crawford. “Guys like Sean Gibbons don’t want Manny to fight him because they feel the same way.
“So rule out a Pacquiao fight [for Crawford],” said Arum. “Then that leaves Danny Garcia. I don’t think that’s a particularly big fight. It’s like a ‘who cares? fight.’ I look more at the 140s, who will eventually become 147s. Ramirez, Prograis, the Scottish guy Taylor. I think those will be big future opponents for Crawford,” said Arum.
Danny Garcia vs. Crawford would likely bring a lot more attention from U.S fans then the 140-pound fighters that Arum is interested in matching at Terence.
IBF/WBA light-welterweight champion Taylor (16-0, 12 KOs) is popular in the UK, but not in the U.S. He’s clearly not in the same league as Danny Garcia as far name recognition goes in the U.S. WBC/WBO champion Ramirez is still not a name either. He’s popular in the Fresno area of California, but not nationally.
Prograis (24-1, 20 KOs) lost his last fight to Taylor in the final of the World Boxing Super Series tournament last October, and he hasn’t fought since. We don’t know how Pograis’ career will go now that he’s been beaten by Taylor.
Given the loss Prograis suffered at the hands of Taylor, this wouldn’t be a good time for him to move up to 147 to face Crawford. Prograis needs to rebuild his career before he would be a good option for Crawford, and he may not have the size for the 147-lb division.