Via Dan Ambrose: Terence Crawford has abandoned his negotiations for a big fight against Errol Spence Jr to get one this year on December 10 against David Avanesyan.
Crawford hasn’t fought since last November, and he wanted to see action this year with at least one fight, so he opted to go head to head with Avanesyan (29-3-1, 17). KO). Let’s just hope 35-year-old Crawford doesn’t live to regret his decision.
Although Crawford is said to be enjoying a career-high salary compared to 34-year-old Avanesyan, it won’t be worth it if he is disqualified.
Avanesyan is at the peak of his career, and he is arguably a better boxer than anyone Crawford has fought at 147 or 140.
Of course, that doesn’t say much because the best man Crawford has ever fought in welterweight is Shawn Porter, who has been pretty well shot by the time he takes on him in 2021. Matches Porter’s with Spence and Yordenis Ugas took the best part of him, leaving the shell Crawford had defeated.
The downside to Crawford fighting Avanesyan is that the fight will be shown on BLK Prime PPV for $39.95. Boxing fans accustomed to watching Crawford on ESPN+ in the past, will now need to pay to watch him fight on a pay-per-view basis, which might be a bit too jarring for some of them.
Crawford had hoped to fight Spence on November 19, but when the date was pushed to early 2023, he chose to fight Avanesyan. Earlier on Thursday, Dan Rafael reported that the match between Spence and Crawford could happen on February 4. However, Mike Coppinger said that day was “create.“
“Once I’m successful against Avanesyan, my plan remains the same: Whoop Errol Spence’s ass,“Crawford said to ESPN.
Crawford still wants to try and work out a deal with Spence next year for an undisputed clash. Whether it can happen will depend on the amount of time involved in trying to negotiate the war.
After Spence was burned, this time with Crawford negotiating with Avanesyan while he was with him, it was predictable that Errol would seek to stage other fights rather than receive the same treatment.
By causing Spence to invest unnecessary time trying to come to an agreement with each other, he might think twice before putting all his energy into fighting the negotiations.
Spence might have been better off forgetting about Crawford and moving up to 154 instead to go after Jermell Charlo.
