Crawford wants Fight, Spence....nah

Crawford Reaches Out To Spence About Restarting Talks

BY [url]SEAN NAM[/url]
Published Sun Dec 25, 2022, 06:25 AM EST
Terence Crawford Jr. evidently is still very much interested in pursuing a fight with Errol Spence Jr.

Earlier this week, the WBO welterweight titlist from Omaha, Nebraska, publicly reached out to Spence, the WBA, WBC, and IBF champion from Desoto, Texas, on Twitter about restarting negotiations for the undisputed 147-pound championship. Crawford’s sentiment echoed what Spence said shortly after their initial negotiations flatlined in late October, leading Crawford to pursue a fight with David Avanesyan, whom he ended up stopping in the sixth round a couple of weekends ago at the CHI Health Center in Omaha.

“It’s cool I’m spin the block,” Spence wrote on Twitter, suggesting he was still interested in picking up where he and Crawford left off.

On Tuesday, Crawford reciprocated.

“@ErrolSpenceJr I’m ready when you wanna [spin] the block,” Crawford wrote. “Just giving you a heads up is all. [winking emoji]”

Talks probably will not begin anytime soon since Spence is expected to fight someone else in the first half of next year. That someone is widely regarded to be his Premier Boxing Champions stablemate Keith Thurman.

Spence’s fight date got delayed as he suffered injuries after a recent car accident, although they are as nowhere serious as the injuries he sustained in a car crash in 2019. Spence indicated recently that expects to return to the ring anywhere from April to June.

Recently, Spence was far more restrained in his enthusiasm for the Crawford fight.

“Next year, anything can happen,” Spence told a group of reporters in Las Vegas last week. “I don't know man, I'm not going to worry about it too much. If it happens, it happens. If it don't, it don't … We'll see man, we'll see. The great thing is that I got helluh options. I never say I aint fight nobody. Sh!t — I'll fight whoever.”

Despite the fighters' seeming positive remarks, there is no denying a level of hostility in their relations. Crawford has made it abundantly clear that he believes Spence’s advisor, Al Haymon, the founder of PBC, is to blame for the breakdown in negotiations. In a 20-minute Instagram Live tell-all a couple of months ago, Crawford said Haymon’s refusal to offer financial “transparency” was what killed the deal.

Crawford then decided to link up with BLK Prime, a subscription streaming service that few in boxing had heard of before but had apparently wooed Crawford with a $10 million purse to fight Avanesyan. Crawford recently sung the company’s praises, saying he is looking “forward to what’s next in the future.”

If Spence returns in the spring or early summer, a fight with Crawford probably would not realistically happen until late 2023, at best.