By Jimmy James: In December of 2021, Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn’s launched a warning that has almost come true, “I think you’re going to see Errol Spence move up to 154 to avoid Terence Crawford. ‘Avoid’ is maybe a harsh word, but strategically avoid.”
“I feel a bit sorry for Crawford, not in some ways, but in the ways that I think he wants to create that legacy opportunity, and I’m not sure it will be there for him,” said Hearn.
A few days ago, Spence made Hearn’s prediction come true as he said, “I’ve got to talk to my manager, but I already told them I’ve been at this weight too long. I don’t know. I might be moving up.”
The fight with Crawford almost came to fruition, as both had agreed in principle to all verbal terms and were ready to fight in November. But Crawford’s lawyers spotted problems with PBC’s contract that couldn’t guarantee the 35 percent split reported by Golden Era Boxing thanks to Steven Nelson, boxer and director of Crawford’s B&B boxing academy.
And to confirm the above, Mike Coppinger had told Max Kellerman in his program two weeks ago that “The fight will be pushed to Nov or Dec. The issue Max is that they are disagreements of the contract over events, expenses, and basically transparency related with those expenses.”
Coppinger then added, “Crawford agreed to take the short end of the split, and works of no guarantee and wants transparency working out the net revenue, and so far they haven’t been able to work it out, and it seems as if Al Haymon is holding up the fight. Crawford clearly wants the fight.”
Kellerman responded, “There is no such thing as the net; if you don’t have oversight of the books approving expenses and knowing where all the money is going, no one would ever agree with a net since you work with the gross.” And added, “that sounds like a duck Mike, and Al Haymon doesn’t think his guy is going to win.”
Without a guaranteed contract, Crawford would receive a lower amount than what he originally agreed upon with PBC without any transparency. And it doesn’t make any sense that Crawford and Spence wouldn’t make huge PPV numbers because they easily would outsell any Las Vegas venue in a few hours. I also have my suspicions that Al Haymon has probably advised Spence to not lose his undefeated record and try to make a money fight with Canelo – he did callout Canelo, and he wasn’t joking.
Crawford has fans in Europe and Latin countries since he is a popular figure in the boxing community and consistently at the top of most Pound for Pound lists, wether you agree with it or not. Spence would make far better PPV numbers than any boxer in 154lb, including Jermall Charlo, who are friends, and it would be hard for them to trade leather inside the ring. But I am not sure Crawford’s PPV numbers against Spence would be better than if Spence fought Canelo, and it makes sense.
As Yahoo Sports commentator Kevin Lole said back in Jan 2022, “it’s not as if Spence is the next Floyd Mayweather or Mike Tyson in terms of selling pay-per-views. Neither guy cares much for doing the media and appearances it takes to put up big numbers on pay-per-view.”
And even Tim Smith from the New York Times had said of Crawford, “Nobody wants to make him an offer that’s insulting.” This was somewhat a prediction itself, as Spence offered an unrealistic split without guarantees to Crawford, unlike his contract with Mikey Garcia and Danny Garcia, which were not bigger than a fight with Bud.
Spence now has to show the boxing fans that he indeed is not ducking Crawford by fighting Jaron Ennis, and his father, Bozy Ennis, spoke after sending the IBF petition “What’s going to happen is they’ll probably strip Spence with the IBF,” Bozy Ennis to YSM Sports Media.
And if that wasn’t enough, Bozy defended Crawford picking David Avanesyan, WBO ranked #6, stating that “the only difference with that is Boots is the mandatory,” said Bozy Ennis. “The other guy isn’t a mandatory. He’s just #1. Just like with the IBF, Ortiz is #1 with the WBO,” clarifying that Crawford wouldn’t be ducking Ennis, but Spence would.
At this point in time, Spence has four choices. He either makes history and becomes undisputed fighting Crawford; he either defends his title against Jaron Ennis or he fights Emaniantas Stanionis. If he fights Stanionis, it’s clearly a duck move since Stanionis himself ducked a fight with Ennis, and wouldn’t make financial sense for PBC.
If he moves to 154lb, he would also duck Ennis and Crawford, proving Hearn’s prediction and also my prediction that he doesn’t want to risk losing his undefeated record with a boxer that elite fighters have avoided over the years.
Sadly, Spence fans can’t defend him any longer, and his team hasn’t responded to any of my emails or called me back to verify the validity of all the information thrown against him, which is already a bad sign. I think the plan is to fight Canelo, and time will tell the fans.
https://youtu.be/2rZhw50douE?t=100