By Jake Donovan

Assuming all parties apply a spoken agreement to a fight contract, Hank Lundy couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present on Sunday.

The 32-year young boxer from Philadelphia has entered a verbal agreement for a February 27 showdown with unbeaten 140 lb. titlist Terence Crawford. Once pen hits paper, the fight will headline at Madison Square Garden Theatre in New York City, with HBO to televise.

USA Today’s Mike Coppinger was the first to break the story.

The card will include unbeaten lightweight contender Felix Verdejo in the televised co-feature against an opponent to be determined.

Getting Crawford into the ring on this particular date was essential to establishing a far more active ring campaign in 2016 than was the case a year ago for the fighting pride of Omaha, Nebraska.

“For Terence, it’s important to get him that exposure in New York City. He only fought twice in 2015 and we want to get him in the ring at least three times (in 2016),” Arum told BoxingScene.com in mapping out the year ahead for Crawford, who is coming off of a 10th round knockout of Dierry Jean last October in Omaha. “He’s a huge attraction in his hometown in Omaha (Nebraska), so now the plan is to build him up around the county and turn him into a big star.”

His upcoming showcase in the marketing capital of the world known as New York City is a big step towards building his brand outside of his home region. Crawford has already established himself as a major televised draw, consistently pulling in strong ratings for American cable giant HBO, which has aired seven of his past eight starts.

Lundy (26-5-1, 13KOs) has established himself as a cult favorite for his willingness to take on all comers. The scrappy veteran from Philadelphia has landed on the short end of several close decisions, but is rarely short on entertainment value.

Lacking at present moment is a signature victory. His lone two HBO-affiliated performances resulted in decision defeats. His network debut came in Dec. ’14, dropping a 10-round split nod to Thomas Dulorme, who went on to suffer a 6th round knockout at the hands of Crawford in their vacant title fight last April in Arlington, Texas.

HBO thought enough of Lundy to bring him back on its Latino outlet, where he was shorted in a technical decision loss to fellow hard luck veteran Mauricio Herrera last July. He’s since rebounded with a stay-busy win this past October with hopes of landing a big fight in early 2016.

The opportunity to face Crawford came after several other opponents turned down the fight. Included among those either not interested or not ready for a February fight were Herrera, recently crowned fellow 140 lb. titlist Viktor Postol and former beltholder Ruslan Provodnikov.

Lundy has apparently accepted the opportunity, which comes on the heels of his turning down short money for a proposed February 5 clash with unbeaten but troubled welterweight Frankie Gomez.

Staff at Top Rank declined comment to BoxingScene.com in seeking confirmation of Lundy as the official opponent, other than to mention that the February 27 event will be formally announced at a news conference to be held as early as Jan. 12 in New York City.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox