By Chris Williams: Terence Crawford fired back at Keith Thurman on Thursday in response to his request of $10 million for a fight against him.
Earlier this week, the former WBA/WBC welterweight champion Thurman (29-1, 22 KOs) called out Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) and told him to send a contract to him, and he would sign it live on Instagram for his followers to see.
What initiated Keith’s response was Crawford had told the media that Thurman should stop crying wolf by mentioning his name in the press if he’s not serious about wanting to fight him.
Thurman wants the Crawford fight
Upon being told that Terence wanted him to stop talking about fighting him, Thurman told interviewer Brian Custer that he’s daring Crawford to send him an offer, and he’ll sign it.
This week, Thurman’s management contacted Crawford’s promoters at Top Rank to try and get the ball rolling for negotiations for a fight between him and Terence.
Surprisingly, the $10 million that Thurman asked for wasn’t agreed upon by Top Rank. It’s surprising because Thurman is by far the most prominent name that has been offered to the 32-year-old Crawford during his career.
“Keith Thurman, you’re funny for making it seem that you wanted a real fight with the king, knowing you weren’t going to get $10 million.
“Look, whenever you’re ready for a real [fight], I’ll be here to smash your a**. For the people that think I would duck him, you go fall off a cliff. You’re stupid,” said Terence Crawford on social media.
$10 million would seem like a small price given what Crawford would gain longterm from beating a famous fighter like ‘One Time’ Thurman. If Top Rank wants to build Terence into a star with what little time that he has left in his career, they’ve got to be ready to pay the money to lure the top dogs into fighting him.
Terence might not fight in 2020
Crawford’s status for this year is up in the air. His promoter Bob Arum mentioned wanting to put together a fight for him against Manny Pacquiao or Kell Brook, but neither of those fights appears to be materializing for him.
There’s a perfect chance that Crawford will sit inactive for the remainder of 2020, and then Top Rank will look to get him out in 2021.
Crawford would need to fight in front of a crowd to get some of the more popular fighters to agree to face him. But if Crawford were willing to take the little money for a fight against Thurman on pay-per-view, the battle might be able to take place even without a crowd.
Waiting until 2021 would be a gamble on Top Rank and Crawfords’ part because the vaccine might not be ready or capable by 2021. If crowds still aren’t allowed to return to boxing events by next year, then Terence will have wasted this year by not fighting.