Arum believes Crawford will fight Josh Taylor in UK

By Boxing News - 11/22/2021 - Comments

By Jeff Aronow: Bob Arum thinks Terence Crawford could be lured by the massive money to travel to the UK to defend his WBO welterweight title against the popular Scottish fighter Josh Taylor in early 2022.

U.S boxing fans would prefer to see Crawford fight Errol Spence next rather than Taylor, but that might be stuck with the Scottish fighter. Spence seems to be more interested in fighting WBA champion Yordenis Ugas. Still, he’s not going to be available to fight him until he’s done with the World Boxing Association’s four-fighter tourney.

Arum says he wants Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs) to fight either Spence Jr. or Taylor next. However, with the way IBF/WBC 147-lb champion Spence dashed out of the arena after Crawford’s win over Shawn Porter last Saturday night, it seems apparent that he has no intention of fighting him next.

Spence doesn’t want that smoke

When Spence was walking out of Mandalay Bay, he didn’t say anything about wanting to fight Crawford next. It would have been the perfect moment for Spence to climb into the ring and tell the fans that he’s ready to fight Crawford next.

The fact that Spence DIDN’T go into the ring tells you all you need to know about his lack of interest in facing the Omaha, Nebraska native. Spence doesn’t want that smoke, and with him coming off eye surgery, you can’t blame him.

Image: Arum believes Crawford will fight Josh Taylor in UK

It’s not surprising that Spence isn’t interested in fighting Crawford because he’s had years to fight him, and he’s never taken the fight. Crawford isn’t the ideal opponent you want to face when you’re coming off a torn retina like Spence.

“There are really two guys out there that would make for a completion of his legacy; one is Spence, and the other is Taylor,” Arum said to IFL TV.

“Spence would be the good fight or Josh Taylor. Josh Taylor in the UK would be an absolute smash. Why not [the UK]? Crawford doesn’t care.

Arum is confident Crawford will face Taylor

“If there’s a huge amount of money to go over to the UK and fight Taylor, why wouldn’t he take it?” said Arum.

That will be tough for Crawford to fight  Taylor in front of 70,000 Brits in England or Scotland. Taylor is a vicious puncher on the inside, and he would be a problem for Crawford. Unlike 34-year-old Porter, Taylor isn’t worn down and looking to retire.

Crawford will take the fight if that’s his best option, and it might very well be. After the battle with Porter, he said he could potentially go up to 154 to see what’s up there for him.

At junior middleweight, Crawford will have the same problems he’s had at 147 in trying to get the top guys to fight him. Jermell Charlo is the only real good option for Crawford, and he’s with PBC.

Charlo isn’t going to fight Crawford, and that’s not realistic. WBO 154-lb champion Brian Castano would face Crawford if free, but he’s busy with a rematch against Jermell in February.

If Crawford were willing to go up to middleweight, he could challenge WBO champion Demetrius ‘Boo Boo’ Andrade, who has been shut out by the top guys in that division. However, with Andrade’s size and punching power, Crawford would be taking a considerable risk against a guy like that.

If Porter was able to hurt Crawford last Saturday, imagine what Andrade would do to him.