By Allan Fox: Terence Crawford wants the WBA to send him the 147-lb belt that he won off of Errol Spence Jr. last July with his upset win in Las Vegas.
Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) won the WBA welterweight belt along with the IBF & WBC straps from the previously unbeaten Spence four months ago on July 29th, and he says he hasn’t received it.
It’s unclear why Crawford wants the WBA belt when he has no intentions of defending it against the contender. Crawford is expected to move to 154, possibly beginning with his rematch with Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) in the first quarter of 2024.
Even if Crawford receives the WBA belt, he’s not likely to defend it. He could just hold onto it until the strap is stripped from him for failing to defend it.
Until then, some feel that Crawford will be just using the WBA and his other three titles at welterweight to strengthen his negotiating position in setting up fights against various opponents.
If Crawford can say, ‘I’m the undisputed welterweight champion,’ it will put him in a better bargaining position to get more money than if he were a belt-less ex-undisputed champ. Hence, Crawford will almost surely hold onto his four titles at 147 until they’re stripped from him by the sanctioning bodies for failing to defend any of them.
Boxing fans want to see Crawford stick around at 147 long enough to face his IBF mandatory Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, but it appears he has no intentions of doing so.
Yo @WBABoxing can I get my belt or what
— Terence Crawford (@terencecrawford) November 1, 2023
That’s the fight fans want to see from Crawford, but he has zero interest in taking on the young phenom. Boots is like a giant, earth-destroying asteroid hurtling through space, heading towards the aging Crawford, ready to knock him off his perch as the #1 welterweight on the planet. When Boots impacts on Crawford, he could mess things up for him.
That’s a dangerous guy for an older fighter like Crawford, who could start deteriorating if he sits out of the ring, resting on his laurels, living off the glory of his victory over Spence instead of returning to work to continue to prove himself.
Terence has a vision of getting a massive payday fight against undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, but the problem is, he has no plans on moving up to 168 to earn the title shot by facing the killers, David Benavidez & David Morrell Jr.
In other words, Crawford just wants Canelo to give him the payday on a silver platter instead of getting in the ring and risking his soft hide against Morrell or Benavidez.
Crawford is reportedly having an enormous $10 million mansion being built in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. The mansion will include a movie theater, basketball court, and bowling alley. Not an ideal place to build a mansion, but oh well.
With the kind of money that Crawford made from his fight with Spence, he would be better off moving to Beverly Hills, California, where he could purchase a beautiful, ready-made mansion and rub shoulders with the Hollywood movie crowd.
Crawford could hang out at the Beverly Hills Country Club after a $250,000 initiation fee. Moving to that town would be the logical move for Crawford.
