Terence Crawford says he’s retiring after two fights against Errol Spence and Canelo Alvarez. Crawford may need to speed up his retirement a little, as Canelo has zero interest in helping him out with his golden parachute payday.
Has Crawford’s win over Errol Spence turned him into a spoiled brat? Just because he beat a drained, inactive, car-crashed-wreck Errol doesn’t mean he will transmute that empty victory into a cash-out against Canelo Alvarez. You have to do more than beat an over-the-hill Spence to get a chance to face Canelo.
In a classic duck move, Crawford ruled out a fight with Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, even though that’s easily the most attainable, biggest interest match-up for the Omaha, Nebraska native.
Terence doesn’t want to fight Boots, yet he made a big production about being stripped of his IBF welterweight title recently, and he’s still holding onto his WBA, WBC & WBO belts.
Why is Crawford holding those 147-lb belts hostage, if he only has two fights left, his hopeless dream clash against Canelo, and the match that few fans want to see against Spence?
If Crawford doesn’t want to take a risky fight that he could lose against Ennis, there’s always the fading, inactive 35-year-old Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman, but that’s not a match-up that would likely sell to the fans of this generation.
Thurman is a fighter who had his day seven years ago; he’s been forgotten due to inactivity and lack of wins over quality opposition. Whichever promoter puts on a fight between Crawford & Thurman would have to be willing to lose money because there’s no interest in that old-timer fight. Thurman is a relic from the past, and younger fans don’t have a clue who that guy is.
“Jaron [Ennis] is in one place, I’m in another. I’m looking for mega-fights right now, and that’s not a mega-fight. That’s my standpoint on it. I’m looking to fight guys like Canelo Alvarez and the rematch with Errol Spence, and that’s it, that’s over with for me,” said Terence Crawford to the media on Friday when asked about his interest in fighting Boots Ennis.
A rematch between Crawford & Spence will likely lose money for the promoters that put it on, and it’s unclear what network would show it now that Showtime is leaving boxing after this year. Will Amazon Prime want to stage that train wreck?
Unless Crawford has an alternative option if he can’t get the ‘Face of Boxing’ Canelo to change his mind about helping him beef up his retirement fund, he’ll be retiring after he faces Spence in a rematch.
There isn’t much interest from fans in seeing a second fight between Crawford & Spence, and it’s unclear who will put up the money to cover the purses for those two fighters. That sounds like a fight that is going to bleed money for PBC when/if they put it on.
The 36-year-old Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) said yesterday that he only wants mega-fights, and he considers his still unscheduled rematch with the shot-looking Spence as fitting that description.
