Crawford: "Frustrating Not To Face PBC Fighters, Nothing I Can Do"

[Ruthless-RKO]

WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford (35-0, 26 KOs) is hunting for the big fights, but they do not appear to be on the horizon.

The ongoing problem for Crawford is his promotional affiliation.

Crawford is promoted by Top Rank, who have an exclusive content deal with ESPN.

Almost every other welterweight name of value - is competing under Premier Boxing Champions, who have exclusive content deals with Showtime and Fox Sports.

Fighters like IBF, WBC champion Errol Spence, WBA champion Manny Pacquiao, Danny Garcia, Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter, Yordenis Ugas, Jamal James, Sergey Lipinets, Josesito Lopez - are all under the PBC banner.

With so many options within their own stable, the PBC brass are in no hurry to match their welterweight stars against Crawford - which is certainly going to require a co-promotion with Top Rank and the involvement of ESPN.

“It’s frustrating but I look at it as a business move by them not to fight me,” Crawford said to The Los Angeles Times.

“I’m not going to knock them or be a hater, but I know where I stand and I know the game they’re playing and there’s nothing I can do about it. I just have to focus on what I can do and keep making a living and keeping my name up there as the best pound-for-pound fighter.”

The biggest fight to be made at welterweight - is a unification between Crawford and Spence.

“I don’t know if that fight will ever happen,” Crawford said.

“That’s not something I can decide. It takes two people to fight, and it takes two companies to sit down and figure it out and decide what network we’re going to fight on, where we’re going to fight, what the purses are going to be. It’s not as easy as people think it is, but it could be easy if we finally sat down at the same table and made it happen.”

--Source--

[Enlightened-One]

On the 6th September 2018, Terence Crawford willingly chose to renew his contract with Top Rank, knowing full-well that this would very likely rule out the possibility of bouts between himself and any of the PBC guys until August 2025, but his reward for doing so was to receive a $3m guarantee for all his future bouts under the terms of his new contract.

The media clearly conveyed their frustration about his decision for continuing his business partnership with Bob Arum, because the consequences of his decision was abundantly clear to anyone that follows the sport of boxing.

So should we feel “sorry” for Terence Crawford and the lack of opportunities he’ll receive for engaging in big fights? Absolutely not! He’s solely responsible for his own predicament!

He’s made his bed and now he needs to lie in it!

[gregregegg]

Fucked up situation but defiantly his fault, he knew who controlled the welters. might have to bulk up and fight fury. or slim down to chase loma and lopez...

[apollo creed]

TC should've signed with PBC but he probably stayed loyal to Arum.

[RonnyJ]

On the 6th September 2018, Terence Crawford willingly chose to renew his contract with Top Rank, knowing full-well that this would very likely rule out the possibility of bouts between himself and any of the PBC guys until August 2025, but his reward for doing so was to receive a $3m guarantee for all his future bouts under the terms of his new contract.

The media clearly conveyed their frustration about his decision for continuing his business partnership with Bob Arum, because the consequences of his decision was abundantly clear to anyone that follows the sport of boxing.

So should we feel “sorry” for Terence Crawford and the lack of opportunities he’ll receive for engaging in big fights? Absolutely not! He’s solely responsible for his own predicament!

He’s made his bed and now he needs to lie in it!

exactly

[Syntax Error]

Crawford messed up because he forgot the old adage that, if the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain.

Crawford stayed where he was & the mountain is still way off over in the distance.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Crawford: I'm The Best at 147 - I'll Fight All of Those PBC Guys

According to WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford, he is ready and willing to fight any of the boxers in his division - who are currently competing under the Premier Boxing Champions banner.

“I’m willing to fight all those guys, but it’s not up to me to decide if I’m going to fight them or if I’m not going to fight them. I’m open to fighting all those guys. I’ve been saying that from Day 1. Nothing has changed. I’m the best fighter in the division and I’m always willing to prove it,” Crawford told The Los Angeles Times.

“Bob is willing to make any fight happen. At the end of the day, it’s not up to Bob. It’s up to me. The fighters are the ones that fight, and without us, there’s no promotion. So if a fighter really wants a fight to happen, he can make it happen. You can tell them, ‘Listen, this is the fight I want and I’m not fighting until I get that fight.’ It’s simple. At the end of the day, they work for us. If we don’t fight, nobody is going to get paid, so they have to make the fights that the fighters want.”

Crawford, who won a world title at lightweight and unified the entire division at 140, wants to unite all four of the major titles at welterweight.

“I still want to be the undisputed welterweight champion of the world,” Crawford said, “and I believe I’ll be the first to be undisputed in two divisions, back-to-back. I just want to leave a mark on the sport of boxing so people talk about me like they talk about the other great champions before me. That’s my goal before I retire.”

[marvelous marv]

When he came up from 140 he should not have chased the WBO Title. He could easily have been a mandatory for any of the othe titlists and forced a big fight.

[Enlightened-One]

When he came up from 140 he should not have chased the WBO Title. He could easily have been a mandatory for any of the othe titlists and forced a big fight.

That’s actually not a bad idea. However, the terms of Crawford deal with Top Rank is that he’s guaranteed $3m per bout.

If he was the mandatory challenger for the WBC title, he’d only be entitled to 30% of the total purse pot. Similar rules apply for the WBA & IBF governing bodies.

And assuming Haymon and Arum couldn’t agree terms, any mandated bouts would go to purse bids, the minimum winning bid would have to be more than $10m in order to satisfy the terms of Crawford’s contract with Top Rank, as well as promoter commission, but the thing is… Terence isn’t a big draw. It would be a loss-making event due to his proven track record of low audience figures.

Crawford obviously prefers to receive a $3m guarantee per bout over opportunities to engage in marquee bouts against big-name opposition, because there’s no other reason for him to extend his contract with Top Rank last year.

[DrDuke]

Crawford is trapped because of these promotional/network issues. He can beat everyone, but they put a lesser opposition to him.

[Enlightened-One]

Crawford is trapped because of these promotional/network issues. He can beat everyone, but they put a lesser opposition to him.

Crawford isn’t "trapped". He’s "self-imprisoned". There’s a difference, since Crawford willingly signed a contract with Top Rank fully-appreciating the consequences of his actions.

He does not deserve any sympathy for the plight he's currently faced with, since he chose money over legacy.

And that’s HIS decision to make. Nobody else is to blame.

[DrDuke]

Crawford is trapped because of these promotional/network issues. He can beat everyone, but they put a lesser opposition to him.

Crawford isn’t "trapped". He’s "self-imprisoned". There’s a difference, since Crawford willingly signed a contract with Top Rank fully-appreciating the consequences of his actions.

He does not deserve any sympathy for the plight he's currently faced with, since he chose money over legacy.

And that’s HIS decision to make. Nobody else is to blame.

He's a prize-fighter. His choice can be understood.

[Enlightened-One]

Crawford isn’t "trapped". He’s "self-imprisoned". There’s a difference, since Crawford willingly signed a contract with Top Rank fully-appreciating the consequences of his actions.

He does not deserve any sympathy for the plight he's currently faced with, since he chose money over legacy.

And that’s HIS decision to make. Nobody else is to blame.

He's a prize-fighter. His choice can be understood.

I absolutely agree, but fight fans have to appreciate the fact their favourite boxers really “can’t have their cake and eat it.”

So we can’t feel sorry for a situation that Terence Crawford himself orchestrated. He can’t expect to work with Top Rank, receiving $3m guaranteed paydays per bout, as well as facing all the guys aligned with the PBC.

[Enlightened-One]

"Arum Sees Ramirez, Taylor, Prograis as Future Crawford Foes"

Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum is putting the final touches on one of his last shows of 2019.

On December 7th, WBO super bantamweight champion Emanuel Navarrete will headline an ESPN+ card against Francisco Horta in Puebla, Mexico. Top Rank Inc. will cap it's year a week later in New York when Terence Crawford defends his WBO welterweight title against mandatory challenger Egidijus Kavaliauskas.

Most of the top fighters in the welterweight division are with Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions and fight on FOX and Showtime. Much has been said about Crawford's lack of options with Top Rank since they typically don't do much business with Haymon and PBC.

There were talks of a potential unification against WBC/IBF champion Errol Spence who is advised by Haymon but those plans are on hold after Spence suffered a horrific car accident and a timetable for his return to the ring has yet to be announced.

While Arum was talking about some of the big fights that his company hopes to make in 2020, he mentioned that several new options may be available to Crawford in the upcoming year.

"I think the biggest fight (he can make) is if my boy Teofimo (Lopez) comes through against Richard Commey. Teofimo and (Vasiliy) Loma(chenko) is a huge huge fight. Oscar Valdez, I am looking forward to his fight against (Miguel Berchelt. There are a lot of big fights. All of these junior welterweights like Josh Taylor, like Jose Ramirez, like (Regis) Prograis will be moving up to the welterweight and those are great opponents for Terence Crawford," Arum told BS.com and a small group of reporters.

[KiwiRider]

It was a bad move.
Not the end of the world. He just has to fight his way into a mandatory position and get his team to force the fight through the correct channels.
Of course, some of the orgs make their own rules as they go along

[Ricky]

Crawford is right, these guys signing for a closed-shop screams duck to the boxing community.

[MATTPRENTICE]

Crawford isn't getting the fights he wants at 147 but he is making several million dollars a shot facing the likes of Jose Benavidez and Mean Machine. None of the PBC welterwerights outside of Manny are making that much guaranteed money. He's a three-division titleholder, undisputed champion at 140, and is a model family man. You can't ask much more of him.

[Enlightened-One]

Crawford isn't getting the fights he wants at 147 but he is making several million dollars a shot facing the likes of Jose Benavidez and Mean Machine. None of the PBC welterwerights outside of Manny are making that much guaranteed money. He's a three-division titleholder, undisputed

Errol Spence Jr.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Crawford isn't getting the fights he wants at 147 but he is making several million dollars a shot facing the likes of Jose Benavidez and Mean Machine. None of the PBC welterwerights outside of Manny are making that much guaranteed money. He's a three-division titleholder, undisputed

Errol Spence Jr.

He only just started.

[tiny_acres]

Crawford isn't getting the fights he wants at 147 but he is making several million dollars a shot facing the likes of Jose Benavidez and Mean Machine. None of the PBC welterwerights outside of Manny are making that much guaranteed money. He's a three-division titleholder, undisputed

Errol Spence Jr.

How much is Spence guaranteed?
I'm curious

[IKSRTFO]

Errol Spence Jr.

He only just started.

And really, he got paid less to fight Porter on PPV.

[IKSRTFO]

All of this "he should've signed" is stupid. This didn't apply when PBC allowed Indongo and Felix Diaz to fight Crawford. Promoters have ALWAYS worked with one another. No one had a problem making fights until the last 5-10 years and still, fights are still being made from fighters from different promotions, some being PBC and Top Rank combos.

Crawford Gamboa
Crawford Diaz
Crawford Indongo
Khan vs everyone
Canelo vs everyone
Lomachenko Russell
Matthysse Postol
Any of the heavyweights

[siablo14]

All of this "he should've signed" is stupid. This didn't apply when PBC allowed Indongo and Felix Diaz to fight Crawford. Promoters have ALWAYS worked with one another. No one had a problem making fights until the last 5-10 years and still, fights are still being made from fighters from different promotions, some being PBC and Top Rank combos.

Crawford Gamboa
Crawford Diaz
Crawford Indongo
Khan vs everyone
Canelo vs everyone
Lomachenko Russell
Matthysse Postol
Any of the heavyweights

So what is your plan to get PBC fighters to face Crawford?

[Enlightened-One]

All of this "he should've signed" is stupid. ..

And yet it’s true. Crawford should have signed with the PBC if he wanted to engage in marquee bouts against big-name PBC fighters.

Please don’t dishonestly pretend that political barriers don’t exist in the sport of boxing.

And don’t dishonestly pretend that citing exceptions dismisses the existence of the general rule.

[IKSRTFO]

All of this "he should've signed" is stupid. This didn't apply when PBC allowed Indongo and Felix Diaz to fight Crawford. Promoters have ALWAYS worked with one another. No one had a problem making fights until the last 5-10 years and still, fights are still being made from fighters from different promotions, some being PBC and Top Rank combos.

Crawford Gamboa
Crawford Diaz
Crawford Indongo
Khan vs everyone
Canelo vs everyone
Lomachenko Russell
Matthysse Postol
Any of the heavyweights

So what is your plan to get PBC fighters to face Crawford?

The same way Indongo and Diaz, two PBC fighters did.