By Chris Williams: Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford had his soft touch in David Avanesyan on December 3rd and now wants undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo or three-belt welterweight champ Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence next.
What’s clear is the 35-year-old Crawford needs a big name like Jermell or Spence for him to make the money that he wants in his next fight.
After the scant interest the boxing public showed in Crawford’s recent title defense of his WBO 147-lb title against Avanesyan, it’s unlikely BLK Prime will be willing to throw huge money at the Nebraska native a second time for his next fight.
Crawford surely isn’t going to risk his hide against the talented young killer Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and get torn apart by him and thrown to the side. That’s a fight that could happen if Crawford were willing to fight Boots, but that’s a bad match-up for the aging Bud.
Boots would take over Crawford’s position and likely do a better job of getting the fights the Nebraska native has been trying to get.
That’s why it’s crucial that Crawford talk his way into a fight with Spence or Jermell next because those are fights that will guarantee another big payday.
Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) posted on social media on Friday night, letting Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) know that he’s letting Spence control who he fight. Last week, Spence told the ESNEWS, “He [Crawford] ain’t fighting Jermell. If I can’t fight him, he ain’t fighting Jermell.”
Awww @TwinCharlo I see why you had yo Pom-poms on so heavy @ErrolSpenceJr is yo daddy. So it makes since now you should of just said that mane. My bad EJ for talking to yo son like that let’s keep it on you. I’ll take you to the fish fry after I fillet you. pic.twitter.com/i8UcATg7Dj
— Terence Crawford (@terencecrawford) December 24, 2022
While it might seem farfetched to imagine Crawford going up to 154 and challenging Jermell for his four belts, it can happen. With Boots Ennis breathing down Crawford’s neck in the World Boxing Organization rankings at 147, he’s going to need to soon defend against him or give up the belt.
It would obviously look bad on Crawford’s part to vacate his WBO 147-lb title to avoid Boots Ennis, but it’s better for him to do that than to take the fight and get slaughtered.
With Crawford’s WBO title, he can force a fight with Jermell at 154 by petitioning the sanctioning body to install him as the mandatory for his belt with that organization.
Probably the only reason Crawford hasn’t made this move yet is that he’s been trying to get a fight with Spence. The sad thing is, Crawford would have gotten the Spence fight if he hadn’t walked away from the negotiations recently to go fight Avanesyan on BLK Prime PPV.