Why did it take so long for Terence Crawford to finally be a bigger boxing star?

He needs Taylor Swift's public relations and marketing team.

 

Being a "bigger boxing star" means non boxing fans knowing who you are. And thats not really a logical thing.

The biggest thing one can do to become a big PPV star is beat another big PPV star. Thats how Mayweather did it, thats how Manny did it by stealing the leprechauns pot of gold. In this case the leprechaun would be Canelo.

 

it's weird in hindsight - the victory over Gamboa feels like it should have been the one to launch Crawford into stardom.

While he was still undefeated, HBO was presenting Gamboa like he was a star with franchise potential (maybe to be the next face of the network after Golokvin) - and he really was the whole package. Had the look, the skills, the speed/power... and the amateur pedigree, but at the same time a style that's far more fan-friendly than your typical Cuban. What he lacked to reach those highest of heights, we came to find out, was his chin. But you would think with Crawford being the one to snatch his zero - and by dribbling him off the canvas several times and stopping him, no less - a bit of that vibe of star ascendancy would have rubbed off. But nope. It would be another eleven years before Crawford became a name that you'd expect any casual to know - and that's initially only because Canelo drew the lion's share of attention to his debut on the Netflix deal.

It doesn't help that many of his opponents after Gamboa were names that, while decent world class fighters whose names diehards would recognize, were not exactly the stuff of casual fans' dreams. You don't become a mainstream attraction beating the likes of Beltrán, Dulorme, Jean, Lundy, Postol etc. In fact, the only globally well-known opponents he fought between Canelo and Gamboa were Khan and Spence.

You can never quite predict which side the coin will land on, in a case like Crawford vs. Gamboa - it can result in the public's collective takeaway being "oh wow, this Crawford is actually really good! Let's keep talking about him...", or conversely "oh wow, that Gamboa was a hype job! Let's stop talking about him..."

 

There is a lot of truth in that. Also note it's not saying guys like Crawford or Usyk hadn't beaten good fighters before. Most will tell you Crawford had already beaten better fighters than Canelo before and Usyk had beaten better fighters than AJ before.

But better and more popular/known are two different things.

 

Bob Arum did a bad job promoting him. There were good fights that could have been made years ago but promoters were keeping everything in-house.

 

Mirror those above.

Crawford didn't have a great win until the Spence fight when he was literally 35, followed by Canelo at almost 38. Also, it doesn't help that the combination of Top Rank being a useless promoter and Crawford having little charisma either is part of the reason Crawford is finally somewhat 'known' now.

Compare that to Mayweather when he'd beaten Hatton and De La Hoya at 30, plus Mayweather knew how to promote and market himself.

If I asked an old lady on the street if she knew Mayweather, she'd say yes. However, she wouldn't have a clue who Crawford is still most likely.

 

Had **** poor management and a dull personality despite being elite. He should've done more to sell himself but he simply doesnt care.

 

Terence spent many years with Arum as his promoter. And Arum and Top Rank didn't think a black fighter could be a superstar. Floyd didn't become a superstar either until he left Top Rank.

https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_...voring-white-latino-fighters-lawsuit-top-rank

Also you had Al Haymon for a long time controlling the fights at the welterweight division. Of course Haymon weren't in a hurry for his fighters to fight top guys because as we saw when his fighters did step up they were exposed and left a lot to be desired.

 

It took him too long to chase down the big fights.

 

That's a lie. I dare you walk down the street and no one knows who Crawford is

 

I like his personality. He's a solid, every day guy. Not every fighter has to be a clown or a showman.

 

He was over-protected by Top Rank for years, and Arum made mostly in-house fights for him, instead of letting him face Al Haymon's boxers.

He should have fought Spence before his accident, but that was seen as too risky.

 

I'm in the UK.

 

As I said if you are smart you will study what Floyd did. Floyd is the only fighter ever that mastered the inside the ring and outside the ring. So when Terence saw Floyd leave Bob Arum he knew he had to do the same.

Think about it Floyd is the only fighter to make a billion dollars. The ONLY one. And he's been retired for about 8 years now.

Let's like Floyd told Andre Berto....you say I'm bad for boxing but you are getting a career high payday because of me without being the star in the fight? lol.

So now everybody including Terence want to follow the Floyd blueprint as much as possible. Terence said it himself, Floyd is the GOAT. Not only for being the best in the ring. But really being the first boxer to figure out how to truly cash in financially.

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