By Chris Williams: Welterweight champion Terence Crawford says he’s on a different path than undisputed 140-lb champion Josh Taylor and he’s not interested in facing him next.
Crawford notes that Taylor (18-0, 13 KOs) has a title defense against his WBO mandatory challenger Jack Catterall (26-0, 13 KOs) on February 26th.
The fights that WBO welterweight champion Crawford wants are unification matches against IBF/WBC champion Errol Spence Jr. and WBA belt-holder Yordenis Ugas.
That might be an empty pipe dream on Crawford’s part, thinking that he’ll get a unification fight next against either of those champions. The reality is, Crawford getting Spence or Ugas to fight him next is more fantasy-based than a realistic option for him.
It’s unlikely that Crawford’s former promoter Bob Arum will be able to set up fights against either of those champions for him next.
For the last three years, Arum hasn’t had any luck setting up a Crawford vs. Spence fight, and that’s not likely to change.
Thurman = Most realistic option for Crawford
Right now, the most realistic option for Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs) is a fight against Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman.
The former WBA/WBC welterweight champion Thurman (29-1, 22 KOs) said on Monday that he wants to face Crawford next, and he’ll be available eight months from now by the summer to challenge for the title.
As long as Crawford is willing to wait that long, Thurman, 32, is perhaps the best option available to him.
Now that Crawford’s contract with Top Rank has expired as of his fight last Saturday night against Shawn Porter, he might be a little delusional, thinking that he’ll be scooped up by PBC or Matchroom Boxing, and they’ll be able to open the doors for him getting a unification fight against Spence or Ugas.
Crawford naively believes that his win over 34-year-old washed-up Porter will open the doors for fights that have been unavailable to him, but he could be kidding himself.
It was a decent win for Crawford, but the victory was tarnished by the strange ending in which Porter’s father/trainer Kenny Porter suddenly stopped the fight in the tenth round after Shawn had been knocked down twice.
Porter didn’t look hurt at the time, and some boxing fans thought it was strange. What made things worse was Porter retiring afterward and revealing that he intended to retire after the fight, win or lose.
Crawford throws cold water on Taylor fight
“Down the road, maybe we can visit that fight, but right now he’s got business to take care of,” said Crawford to Sky Sports about Taylor having to deal with his WBO mandatory Catterall in February.
“After that, then who knows? But right now he’s at 140[lbs], I’m at 147, and I’m looking at unification fights, and therefore we’re on different paths right now, until we meet up,” said Crawford.
The way that Crawford is talking, he sounds like he might be intimidated by Taylor because it’s a much riskier fight than the opposition that he’s been accustomed to fighting.
While some boxing fans made a big deal about Crawford facing Porter last Saturday night, saying that he was fighting his first elite-level fighter, the reality is Shawn was washed up.
Even in his prime, Porter was never an elite fighter, and by the time he fought Crawford last Saturday, he was a faded old guy, looking to retire afterward.
Taylor was impressed with Crawford’s performance, says to Sky Sports, “I knew it was going to be tough for Crawford in there. I only gave Crawford one or two of the early rounds, but he started finding his range.
“I’ve got my own fight to focus on, which is Jack Catterall, and it’s a very big fight, a very big risk, so I’m focusing on that.
“We’ll see how the fight goes, and after it, then we can talk about these discussions and see what’s happening.