By Ryan Burton
Multiple sources have advised BoxingScene.com that WBO/WBC super lightweight champion Terence "Bud" Crawford (29-0) will return to the ring in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska on December 10th.
The date originally belonged to Canelo Alvarez but his return was put on hold when he injured his hand during his knockout victory over Liam Smith in September. The date was then shifted over to Gennady Golovkin who also had to take a pass when his mandatory fight against Danny Jacobs was pushed back to early 2017.
Crawford last fought in July in Las Vegas when he dominated undefeated Viktor Postol over 12 rounds to unify the WBC/WBO world titles at 140-pounds. In February he stopped Hank Lundy in 5 rounds in New York.
An opponent has not been locked down for December 10th - but IBF/IBO champion Eduard Troyanovsky and WBC #1 rated challenger Antonio Orozco are some of the potential opponents. Troyanovsky, who is already slated to defend his titles on a December date in his native Russia, appears to be a long shot at this point.
WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman had previously told BoxingScene.com that Crawford would be allowed one voluntary fight before his mandatory is enforced. With a shortage of potential opponents and only 7 weeks until fight night, it might make sense to fulfill the mandatory obligation against Orozco (25-0, 16KOs) right now. Orozco fought in July and won decision over Abner Lopez.
Orozco's manager, Frank Espinoza, confirmed to BoxingScene.com that preliminary discussions - between Crawford's promoter Top Rank and Orozco's promoter Golden Boy - have taken place but that they are just exploratory talks and in the infant stages.
With the clock ticking to finalize the fight, Orozco seems appears to be the likely frontrunner if a financial agreement can come to fruition.
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