Although they compete in two separate weight classes, that hasn't stopped both Jermell Charlo and Terence Crawford from fulminating in the public eye.
Crawford, 35, has essentially placed a target on the back of the current undisputed titlist at 154 pounds and believes that at some point, the two will eventually square off in the center of the ring. While Charlo welcomes Crawford's challenge, the truculent star has noticed a pattern of sorts.
With Crawford spending the better part of the past few months calling out Charlo, his stablemate Errol Spence Jr. and making mention of a showdown against Keith Thurman, Charlo has concluded that Crawford is simply clout chasing with no intention of actually facing anyone on the Premier Boxing Champions roster.
“Man, all I see is him riding off the names of the PBC fighters,” said Charlo during a recent presser. “He ain’t even trying to fight anybody for real.”
Quietly, Crawford buffered Charlo’s argument. Just this past weekend, in front of his hometown fans in Omaha, Nebraska, the pound-for-pound star stood across the ring from David Avanesyan. Pegged as a considerable favorite, Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) wasted no time in proving why, easily outboxing his man in the first few rounds before scoring a knockout of the year candidate in the sixth round.
From the moment Avanesyan’s lifeless body bounced listlessly off the canvas, over 14,000 fans stood on their feet and roared as Crawford egged them on. Nevertheless, Charlo, on the other hand, paid no attention to what took place. With the 32-year-old hoping to get off to an auspicious start to his undisputed reign against Tim Tszyu on January 28th, Charlo reveals that all of his attention has been placed on taking care of business come fight night.
“I didn't get a chance to see his fight. I never heard of his opponent, I just been really focused on what I have in front of me.”
