By Adam Baskin: Terence Crawford quickly took care of showcase opponent David Avanesyan last Saturday night, stopping him in the sixth round in his one-fight deal with BLK Prime on pay-per-view at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska.
Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) nailed the EBU 147-lb belt holder Avanesyan (29-4-1, 17 KOs) with a left hand followed by a right hook to knock him out in the sixth.
Although Avanesyan is ranked in the top 10, he’s not considered one of the better welterweights in the division, and it’s unclear why BLK Prime head honchos were willing to pay Crawford $10 million+ for this level of opponent instead of insisting he defends against Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis or Vergil Ortiz Jr.
The 35-year-old Crawford looked good but not like he’d been during the best years of his career. Avanesyan was putting hands on Crawford during the contest, showing that age is starting to creep in for the Nebraska native.
After the fight, Crawford refused to call out IBF, WBA & WBC welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr, but he did express interest in facing him or undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo.
Given the way Crawford is playing hardball with him acting as his own promoter, it’s unlikely he will be able to negotiate a fight with Spence or Charlo.
Terence to return in April or May
“We want to fight again. Somebody give us somebody else,” said Crawford’s trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre, after the fight.
“I kept saying that I wanted to fight this year. I didn’t want to be out of the ring for over a year. I’m trying to get back to fighting on a constant basis,” said Crawford.
“Hopefully, April or May, somewhere around that time,” said Crawford when asked when he wants to fight again. “We got to wait and see. We can’t overstep our boundaries. We don’t know what is next. I got to go to the drawing board, and my phone stay on. I’m ready for whoever.
“I feel like I can peak at 154, I feel like I can be strong at 154 as well as 147,” said Crawford when asked if he’ll move up to junior middleweight if he can’t get the fight against IBF, WBA & WBC welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr next.
“A lot of people say I’m small for 147, but I feel like with my strength, my skills, and my mindset, I can go up in weight and hang with the best of them,” said Crawford.
“He can make 147 pretty easy. He makes it look easy,” said Crawford’s trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre. “I figure the man can do whatever he wants to do at 147 or 154. He’s proven to the world that he is the pound-for-pound best.
“If he chooses to go up to 154 and come back down to 147, so let it be. That’s what he wants to do. Me personally, I don’t think anybody at 154 or 147 can beat him. It’s as simple as that. The only question is, who is going to be willing to fight him?
“You don’t see nobody calling out Bud at 54 or 47. They’re probably going to try and stall him out,” said BoMac.
“I might go down to 135 and fight Shakur Stevenson,” said Crawford jokingly.
Crawford refuses to call out Spence
“I don’t got to give no message to nobody,” said Crawford when asked if he has a message to Errol Spence. “Everybody has seen what I’ve done in the welterweight division. Everybody sees who I’ve been calling out.
“I hadn’t heard that he was in another accident,” said Crawford about Spence. “I hope he’s alright. We’re all fighting for that #1 spot. It’s not personal. It’s just business.
“Everybody knows what Terence Crawford brings to the table. So there’s not too much that I need to do. I’ve had a lot of spectacular knockouts earlier in my career, but this is top five,” said Crawford in rating his knockout of #6 WBO ranked Avanesyan.