Via Allan Fox: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says Terence Crawford could soon be working with his company in his fight against Josh Taylor if the Scottish boxer rises to 147 points after his bout with Jack Catterall on May 26. 2.
‘The Tartan Tornado’ Taylor, 30, is one of two options for Crawford’s next fight in the first half of 2022. Crawford won’t be fighting Errol Spence Jr. or Yordenis Ugas in the first half of next year because those two are facing each other.
It’s also safe to say that Crawford won’t be fighting Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis because he’s too dangerous to fight in a voluntary defense.
Former WBA/WBC Welding Champion Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman is the other choice, but he has a bout with Mario Barrios on Feb. 5 and he could lose that bout.
If Thurman is defeated by Barrios, Taylor will take the decoy’s seat for a lucrative fight with Crawford, as long as he’s willing to go all the way to 147 to face him.
Taylor (18-0, 13 KOs) will defend her undisputed lightweight champion title against Catterall (26-0, 13 KOs) on ESPN at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland.
Crawford vs. Taylor is possible
It will be up to Taylor if he wants to fight Crawford as that is a match he would gladly agree to if Top Rank mentioned it to him.
“He’s right. We had a contract with him and he lived up to his contract, and we lived up to our contract,” Bob Arum told iFL TV about Terence Crawford’s decision not to re-emerge with Top Rank after his contract expired following his final game against Shawn Porter last November.
“We got him in the fight with Porter, it was a big win, and now he’s a free agent and he’s going to look for the best chance he can,” Arum continued.
“Why is that in boxing any different from any other sport? A baseball player, a football player, when he’s out of contract, he’s a free agent and he wants to make the best deal possible and everybody says, ‘Fine, that’s it. is natural.’
“Well, as far as Terence Crawford is concerned, that’s only natural. We would offer the best deals, and he was used to us. I’m sure that will be accepted by him.
“Eg, if we let him fight Josh Taylor and Josh Taylor shows up [to 147] and we give Crawford and Taylor an economic advantage, he will [Terence] Arum said.
Terence will go with whoever has the best deal
There won’t be any offers coming to Crawford in the first half of next year as the top players, Spence and Ugas, will battle each other.
“Now if someone comes up with it [Errol] Spence fights and they give him a lot of money, he will go with that. There’s nothing wrong with that,” Arum said.
“People go crazy because in this day and age, there are long-term contracts and then, ‘Well, he left you and so on.’ No, he fulfilled his contract. He fulfilled his contract and he earned what he had to learn.
“Now, he has to find the best deal possible. That’s the way it used to be.
“Go back to the 80s and 90s, especially the 80s when you had all the [Sugar Ray] Leonard and [Tommy] Listen and [Marvin] Hagler, no one has a long-term contract.
“However, I did in nine matches with them, I did seven out of nine, but did not tie anyone to a specific contract other than a fight contract.
“No, with Terence it’s a bit different,” Arum said when asked if Crawford could command promoters like Canelo Alvarez as a freelance agent.
“Terence is a great talent, but he is not a great charisma, even though we sold out of Mandalay Bay. [in Las Vegas] when he fights [Shawn] Porter [on November 20th],” said Arum.
