By Carlos Boogs
As BoxingScene.com reported a few days ago, there were rumblings of a showdown between WBO/WBC junior welterweight Terence Crawford and hard-punching John Molina. While both fighters have agreed to terms, the contracts are still in the process of being signed.
Both fighters have now agreed to terms, for a showdown on December 10th from the CenturyLink Center in Crawford's hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. HBO will televise the contest.
This is Crawford's first fight since making his pay-per-view debut back in July, when he secured a dominating twelve round decision over previously undefeated Viktor Postol to unify the WBC/WBO world titles.
Crawford (29-0, 20KOs) was expected to return to the ring in January. He was able to land the December date after middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, who was originally booked to fight in that HBO slot, was unable to reach a timely agreement with mandatory challenger Daniel Jacobs.
Molina (29-6, 23 KOs) will return from the biggest win of his career, when he won a dominant decision over former junior welterweight world champion Rulan Provodnikov back in June. The win spoiled Provodnikov's heavily hyped debut on Showtime.
If the contracts get signed, Crawford vs. Molina would become a sign of a positive landscape for 2017. Outside of last year's mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, and a few mandatory fights over the years, Top Rank (for Crawford) and manager/adviser Al Haymon (for Molina) have done little to no business with each other.
Haymon and Top Rank were embroiled in a very tense lawsuit that got settled earlier this year. Bob Arum, CEO for Top Rank, filed the lawsuit - which claimed Haymon was attempting to create a monopoly with his Premier Boxing Champions series.
Once the lawsuit was settled, Arum and Haymon became friendly and they've had numerous discussions regarding future business.
Arum looks forward to doing more fights with Haymon in the future.
"We had a case and once you've got litigation you fight tooth and nail and hate the other guy you're litigating against. Once the case is settled - it's tomorrow. I have nothing against Al. I think he's a very smart guy and I have no problem working with him. We are open to working with anybody, it's stupid not to. [Don] King and I were always at each other's throats, but we did business with each other," Arum said.
