By Max Schramm: Promoter Bob Arum plans to set up a fight between WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford and undisputed 140-lb champion Josh Taylor in the first half of 2022 if they win their upcoming fights this year.
Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) has a tough title defense against his WBO mandatory Shawn Porter that he needs to take care of in November or December.
The World Boxing Organization has already ordered that fight, and Crawford has no choice but to take the match, or else he’ll be stripped of his WBO belt.
Arum making no mention of Errol Spence
Interestingly, Arum says nothing about setting up a unification fight between Crawford and IBF/WBC welterweight champion Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence Jr, should he win his August 21st defense against Manny Pacquiao.
Has Arum changed his mind about wanting to set up a fight between Crawford and Spence? It’s more likely that Arum is more focused on wanting to put together an in-house fight between Crawford and Taylor, considering that he promotes both fighters.
Crawford vs. Spence would be a far bigger fight to the U.S boxing public than a Crawford-Taylor fight. That’s a match that registers mostly with the UK fans rather than the casual boxing fans in the United States.
They’d much rather see Crawford battle Spence, as those are household names at 147.
“We hope the Terence Crawford vs. Shawn Porter fight would take place in November or early December. Therefore if Crawford and Taylor win, it would naturally set up a fight, hopefully in the UK, for April or June, said Top Rank promoter Arum to Sky Sports. “It [Crawford vs. Taylor] would be a big fight.
Taylor still has to defend against his WBO mandatory Jack Catterall (26-0, 13 KOs) in his next fight before facing Crawford in 2022. Catterall was promised a title shot by Taylor, so that those guys will be battling later this year.
IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO light welterweight champion Taylor is coming off a 12 round unanimous decision win over Jose Ramirez on May 22nd in Las Vegas.
It was a close fight that Taylor edged it with a couple of knockdowns. The scores were 114-112, 114-112, and 114-112.
If Ramirez was a little more alert to Taylor’s style of punching on the break, he would have avoided getting knocked down and would have won the fight.
Arum really wants the Crawford vs. Taylor fight, but we’ll see if it happens. If Porter beats Crawford, Arum will need to forget about the Taylor fight and focus instead on setting up a rematch between those two.
“He hasn’t fought the best opponents in his division,” said Taylor about Crawford. “I believe I fought at the better level. I fought better fighters on the way up.
“I feel I can win it out the park, albeit a very tough fight.,” said Crawford.
We’ll see how much Crawford has left after he fights Porter this year. That fight might take a lot out of Crawford. He didn’t look great in the first three rounds in his last contest against past his prime Kell Brook in November.
Although Crawford scored a stoppage in the fourth, he was taking punishment from Brook in a fight that looked close.