By Steve Kim
On February 27th from the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, WBO super lightweight titlist Terence Crawford (27-0, 19KOs) will defend his belt against Hank Lundy (26-5-1, 13KOs) as the main event on HBO. It's a match-up that has come under some scrutiny.
Bob Arum, who promotes Crawford, claims - "(Mauricio) Herrera turned him down, (Ruslan) Provodnikov turned him down, that's why we ended up with Lundy."
Moving forward, will Top Rank be able to entice fellow 140-pounders to get into the ring with the talented native of Omaha?
"Well, when this thing straightens out and people realize that the money is the money, they're going to fight him," said a frustrated Arum. "These people are now so unrealistic about the money, fighting a fighter of Crawford's ability, of (Gennady) Golovkin's, it's ridiculous."
When asked if the caution displayed today by boxers and their managements is worse than ever, Arum answered flatly,"Absolutely."
Why is that?
Arum, taking an obvious shot at the Premier Boxing Champions, opined,"Because of the insane purses that are being paid with Waddell and Reed's money."
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.