By Keith Idec, photo by Ed Mulholland.

NEW YORK – Terence Crawford instructed Felix Diaz, Lou DiBella and anyone else that might’ve thought he was avoiding their fight to guess again.

The undefeated Crawford said Tuesday before a press conference at Madison Square Garden that he literally told matchmakers for his promoter, Top Rank Inc., that they could pick his opponent from a group that included Diaz, mandatory challenger Amir Imam and Adrian Granados. Crawford clearly took exception to the idea that he didn’t want to fight Diaz, his opponent May 20 at the Garden (HBO).

“It’s gonna be a real fun night,” Crawford said during the press conference. “I’m real excited for this fight. I’m real up for it. I’ve been reading all the blogs people have been sending me for the last couple of days, telling me this guy [Diaz] said I’m scared of him and I’ve been ducking him. And everybody knows Terence Crawford ducks no one.

“So I’m up for it. I’m real excited. I’m happy that he got the chance to get the fight. Lou DiBella, I’m not running, boy. I’m not running. So we’re here now, and that’s all I’ve got to say. May 20th, may the better man win.”

Crawford (30-0, 21 KOs), the WBC/WBO super lightweight champion, drew criticism for dominating overmatched John Molina Jr. (29-7, 23 KOs) in his last fight. The 29-year-old Crawford doesn’t understand why some fans have directed so much negativity toward him, however, because he has been trying to land a fight against reluctant Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao since last year.

DiBella, meanwhile, emphasized Tuesday that he didn’t doubt Crawford’s willingness to fight Diaz (19-1, 9 KOs), a 2008 Olympic gold medalist from the Dominican Republic. Diaz’s promoter simply said whatever was necessary publicly during a tense negotiating process to help make the fight happen.

“You know, we were chasing around ‘Bud’ Crawford for a long time because he’ll fight anybody, because he’s the best, because he’ll never run away from a challenge,” DiBella said. “There was no disrespect in us chasing him for that long period of time. It’s because Felix Diaz knew that to assert his own abilities and to prove who he is as a fighter, he needed to get into a ring with someone who had already been given the opportunity to do that.

“And that’s why we chased Crawford so hard, because we knew he was the kind of champion that doesn’t duck a challenge, that isn’t afraid of anybody, and that might just give Diaz this opportunity. And then honestly, this was sort of by-any-means-necessary short of shit. We just wanted to get Felix this fight and that’s what he did.”

Brian McIntyre, Crawford’s co-manager and trainer, predicted Diaz, DiBella and the rest of Diaz’s team will regret fighting the cerebral, diverse champion from Omaha, Nebraska.

“We do got our work cut out for us,” McIntyre said. “But I will say this – they’ve been asking for this fight and asking for this fight, lying and doing this, saying this and saying that. Y’all finally gonna get what y’all looking for.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.