Terence Crawford's 4/18 Return: Omaha is Ruled Out

By Steve Kim

The return of WBO lightweight champion Terrence Crawford is scheduled for April 18th on HBO. But unlike his last two outings against Yuriorkis Gamboa and Ray Beltran, it will not take place in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, where he played to huge throngs at the CenturyLink Center in 2014.

"Omaha is not available," said promoter Bob Arum.

There was talk of expanding Crawford's horizons and taking him to New York and exposing him to the largest media market in the world but Arum explained - "I don't think the (Madison Square) Garden would be happy with us doing a fight at the Garden because it's the week before the Klitschko fight."

Heavyweight champion, Wladimir Klitschko defends his crown on April 25th at the big room of MSG against Bryant Jennings.

Las Vegas could land Crawford's next fight.

"It could be a possibility because that if (Julio Cesar) Chavez ends up fighting on April 18th( against Andrzej Fonfara) it would not be in Vegas," stated Arum.

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.