By Keith Idec
Bob Arum and Terence Crawford respectfully disagreed Thursday when it was suggested to them that there isn’t much left for Crawford to accomplish at 140 pounds if he defeats Felix Diaz next week.
Crawford made it clear he is in no way looking beyond Diaz, who’ll challenge Crawford for his WBC/WBO super lightweight championships May 20 at Madison Square Garden (HBO). Crawford acknowledged, though, that he wants to face Julius Indongo in what would be a rare full title unification match in his following fight.
Namibia’s Indongo (22-0, 11 KOs), the IBF/IBO/WBA 140-pound champion, plans to attend the Crawford-Diaz fight.
“We’ll all talk to him when he comes to the fight,” Arum, whose company promotes Crawford, said during a conference call Thursday. “If the kid wants to fight Terence, then that’s the time to talk to him. … If the kid says that he wants to fight Terence and that’s the fight, you know, we’ll make it happen.”
Arum wants Crawford to fight three times this year and suggested he could return sometime in the summer if he defeats Diaz (19-1, 9 KOs), a 2008 Olympic gold medalist for the Dominican Republic. Crawford and Arum also discussed the opponent that has long eluded Crawford, but it doesn’t seem as though a Crawford-Manny Pacquiao fight is any closer to happening than it was last year.
Indongo, meanwhile, has moved to the top of Crawford’s wish list.
“He’s a good fighter, this guy [Indongo],” Arum said. “That’s a guy that people haven’t heard of because he hasn’t fought in the United States. But our matchmakers say he’s a damn good fighter. And apparently, [he’s] looking forward, down the line, to fight Terence. … There is this kid that’s coming on, that’s a very, very good fighter, that I think holds two titles now at 140. That’s a good possibility.”
The 34-year-old Indongo added the WBA title to his collection April 15, when he soundly out-boxed Scotland’s Ricky Burns (41-6-1, 14 KOs) in Glasgow. Indongo introduced himself to fight fans worldwide when he needed just one right hand and 40 seconds to win the IBF and IBO championships from Russia’s Eduard Troyanovsky (25-1, 22 KOs) on December 3 in Moscow.
Crawford was particularly impressed with how Indongo beat Burns by unanimous decision last month in Burns’ native country. Crawford also beat Burns by unanimous decision in Glasgow to win the WBO lightweight title in March 2014.
“I watched the fight,” Crawford said. “He put on a great performance. He did everything he had to do to get the job done. He’s tall and rangy, he can box. It’d be a good fight.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.