Apparently, Errol Spence Jr. and his team never received the press release announcing Terence Crawford as the newest boxer under the Man Down Promotions banner.
The pair of unbeaten welterweight titlists can’t seem to escape an interview without being asked about the other, a situation that won’t die down until they finally meet in the ring. Crawford (35-0, 26KOs) and his handlers have continued to call out Texas’ Spence (25-0, 21KOs), who has other business at hand as he heads into this weekend’s unification clash Shawn Porter (30-2-1, 17KOs), live on Fox Sports Pay-Per-View from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
For Spence, it marks his second straight PPV appearance, having headlined Fox Sports’ successful debut venture into the market earlier this year in a 12-round shutout over Mikey Garcia. Not quite as lucrative or even as notable was Crawford’s 6th round stoppage win over Amir Khan atop an ESPN PPV show this past April in Madison Square Garden. Whereas Fox Sports has served as the present day barometer for promoting network events, ESPN didn’t show anywhere nearly the same energy behind their own PPV event.
Spence’s team has a theory as to why that’s the case.
“He’s number four in the depth chart,” Derrick James, Spence’s trainer insisted during a recent interview with Fanatics View. “Tyson Fury, (Vasiliy) Lomachenko and now (unbeaten, unified 140-pound titlist Jose) Ramirez, who just made more money than he made. So now he’s number four on the depth chart.
“Tell Bob Arum pick up your promotional game.”
Crawford and Lomachenko were prominently marketed as the tentpoles for Top Rank’s exclusive deal with ESPN upon joining forces in 2017. Since then, however, it’s become evident that there is a far greater push behind Lomachenko. No greater example can be offered than the Ukrainian southpaw receiving similar promotion for a mandatory title defense versus Anthony Crolla on ESPN as was the case for Crawford’s headliner on ESPN’s first PPV event under the new deal, with the two shows just eight days apart.
An even greater investment has been placed into each of Fury’s two appearances on ESPN+, both of which have produced a favorable spike in subscriptions.
“Think about it, have you ever seen Terence Crawford at an NFL football game,” James questions, pointing to Spence being aligned with the Dallas Cowboys ever since Fox Sports inked a long-term deal with Premier Boxing Champions last fall. “They got ESPN, that’s a sports station. Have you ever seen them marketing him? The people with Errol, they out here promoting him. (Top Rank and ESPN are) not spending the money that PBC spending on Errol why does he deserve the fight.
It is worth noting that Crawford was featured at a Green Bay Packers game on ESPN’s Monday Night Football last October, shortly after his 12th round stoppage of Jose Benavidez in the most watched bout of 2018 on any platform. Beyond that, though, it’s a point well taken. Even more so that it shouldn’t be up to Spence and PBC to build up Crawford’s name when there are plenty of prominent welterweight fights at their disposal. The winner of Saturday’s bout is being groomed for a three-belt unification with legendary Manny Pacquiao, who reclaimed a welterweight title following a 12-round win over previously unbeaten Keith Thurman in July.
Meanwhile, Crawford is going on just his fourth fight since Top Rank’s deal with ESPN began more than two years ago. The unbeaten pound-for-pound entrant enjoyed his biggest win to date in his first fight on the new platform, scoring a 3rd round knockout of unbeaten Julius Indongo to become the undisputed 140-pound champion in Aug. 2017.
Since then has come: a 9th round stoppage of Jeff Horn to claim a welterweight title on ESPN+, which—due to platform’s new launch—played to lesser fanfare than should’ve been the case; his aforementioned win over Benavidez last October, which was criticized going in but still the most watched bout of the year; and his PPV win over Khan.
Next up will likely be a mandatory title defense versus unbeaten Egidijus Kavialauskas (21-0-1, 17KOs). The fight doesn’t at all move the needle, but will likely land on a Dec. 14 ESPN card which will also include a lightweight title fight between defending champ Richard Commey and unbeaten Teofimo Lopez.
More importantly, the show will immediately follow network coverage of the annual Heisman Trophy presentation, awarded to the top college football player in the nation. Lomachenko has headlined each of the last two such cards, both of which played to favorable ratings.
Such placement will provide Crawford with much-needed visibility and—at the very least—soften any such claim that he doesn’t bring enough to the table.
“He’s a great fighter, nobody’s questioning that,” acknowledges James. “I’m talking about notoriety. If he walked down the street in some other city (besides his Omaha, Neb. hometown), nobody would know who he was. Just like when he was at the UFC fight in Anaheim, nobody knew who he was when they put him on the screen. His credentials say he’s top shelf, but his people not putting down the money (to promote him).
“He’s number four on the depth chart on ESPN. That’s in his own house. Why should it be our job to promote him?”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
