By Jake Donovan
Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford has reached a point in his career—or at least his stay at welterweight—where all he can do is accept the fights with those willing to get in the ring with him.
The unbeaten three-division and current welterweight titlist is clearly the odd man out in a 147-pound division where nearly all of his best options reside under boxing adviser Al Haymon’s Boxing Champions (PBC) banner. Party lines have been crossed plenty of times in the past—Crawford himself posted title defenses at super lightweight versus Felix Diaz and John Molina Jr., both of whom advised by Haymon.
It’s been a different kind of energy, however, in getting the undefeated Omaha (Neb.) native in the ring with the division’s best. In particular, Crawford and Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum have repeatedly beaten the drums for a showdown with unbeaten titlist Errol Spence, but to no avail.
The two have circled each other for nearly a year, highlighted by their spirited verbal exchange back stage for a Top Rank on ESPN card last November in Oklahoma City, Okla. Crawford was in town as a regular ringside fixture for the series, while Spence was on hand in support of fellow Dallas native Maurice Hooker, then an undefeated titlist who scored a spectacular 7th round knockout of Alex Saucedo.
The back-and-forth between Crawford and Spence that night made for great copy, but no closer to bringing the two together in the ring. It was Spence who famously quipped last fall that Crawford is “on the wrong side of the street” in regards to being a viable option for his own immediate future.
Such talk has worn thin as it relates to the switch-hitting pound-for-pound entrant.
“There’s no such thing,” Crawford (35-0, 26KOs) insisted in correcting DAZN’s Chris Mannix on the topic, while in Arlington, Tex. for Saturday’s headliner between Jose Carlos Ramirez (Top Rank/ESPN) and Maurice Hooker (Roc Nation and Matchroom Boxing USA/DAZN). “There’s no such thing as across the street. Back in the day, you never heard fighters say across the street. What street? This is boxing. Everybody fight everybody.
“What street? Maurice is with DAZN and Roc Nation. Ramirez is with Top Rank and ESPN. What street is we talking about?”
While Crawford remains dismissive of such talk, it’s clear that the PBC-based welterweights are content with creating a series of high-level matchups within the division without his involvement. The July 20 Fox Sports Pay-Per-View headliner between Manny Pacquiao and Keith Thurman was just the latest entry in a year flooded with relevant welterweight action all under the PBC banner.
Spence is currently training for a title unification bout versus Shawn Porter, with their clash to take place September 28 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif. The Fox Sports PPV headliner comes six months after the platform’s foray into the market, topped by Spence who pitched a 12-round shutout over Mikey Garcia this past March in Dallas, Tex. which sold more than 360,000 PPV units.
It has been teased that the winner of Spence-Porter could land a crack at Pacquiao in the first quarter of 2020, thus further flushing Crawford out of the queue.
“That’s their decision,” Crawford acknowledged of the development. “They got the rights to do whatever they want.”
In efforts to remain active, Crawford—whose last fight came in April, scoring an anti-climactic 6th round stoppage of Amir Khan atop an ESPN PPV event that generated in the neighborhood of 175,000 buys—could next face mandatory challenger Egidijus Kavaliauskas, an unbeaten Top Rank-promoted welterweight. The bout is being eyed for mid-October in Crawford’s hometown of Omaha, Neb. where he remains a sizable draw.
Aside from the homecoming, there isn’t anything particularly sexy about the pairing. Simply, it’s means to remain in the ring while continuing to push for bigger fights.
In that regard, he will continue to hold his divisional peers accountable more so than any claims of platforms, managers or promoters serving as a roadblock
“There’s no streets, no line, there’s no nothing,” insists Crawford. “You know… it’s boxing. The best supposed to fight the best, that’s it.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox