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Philippines, 05 May 2024 |
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10 MILLION REASONS CRAWFORD NOT FIGHTING SPENCE TONIGHT By Ralph Rimpell PhilBoxing.com Sun, 11 Dec 2022  Last month the boxing world was made aware, after 4 months of negotiations, undefeated “Pound for Pound” WBO welterweight champion Terrence Crawford (38-0, 29KOs) will not fight fellow titleist and unified WBC/WBA/IBF champion Errol Spence, Jr (29-3, 17KOs) for his next fight, but rather someone called David Avanesyan (29-3-1, 17KOs). According to another news outlet, Crawford had said he was in talks with Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) since June 2022. That’s approximately 4 months of negotiations. For months there were rumors of the financial compensation both fighters were demanding. There were reports that both fighters wanted “Mayweather-Pacquiao money” ($100 million purses for each fighter). There were reports that Crawford wanted parity (50-50 split of the revenue from the fight), which the Spence camp reportedly refused. In the past, Spence had previously said that he would possibly offer Spence 80%-20% or even 90%-10% or whatever he wanted to give Crawford. The latest rumor before negotiations fell apart was Crawford reportedly was ready to accept NO guaranteed money but was willing to accept a percentage of the fight revenue as along as he (Crawford) had approval of fight expenses regarding the promotion and there was financial transparency (Crawford could see the fight revenue receipts). The consensus view (from a highly placed Broadcasting analyst) with all the streaming piracy, inflation, and both fighters not being mainstream fighters the goal for Crawford vs Spence was 500,000 Pay Per View (PPV) buys with good promotion. Anything more than 500,000 PPV buys “would be gravy”, as the expression goes. Spence averages approximately 300,000 PPV buys while Crawford approximately 150,000 PPV buys. So, Spence is clearly the proverbial “A side” of the equation and Crawford is the proverbial “B side”. Regardless, of who is side A or B, both fighters needed each other to have made Crawford vs Spence a financial success, if it was signed. That’s a fact. If the rumors were true that Crawford was willing to accept NO guaranteed money, but a percentage of the fight revenue he would have been taking a major financial risk. The T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the rumored host for Crawford-Spence, would have no doubt been sold out. However, what if the PPV buys only amounted to 350,000-375,000 PPV buys or less? How much would have Crawford earned? Crawford became a free agent once his contract expired with Top Rank (his former Promoter) last November 2021. There are other Boxing Promoters that are aware of Crawford’s value and want his services. BLK Prime Boxing is one of them. They saw an opportunity regarding the long negotiations between Crawford and Spence and made Crawford an offer he simply couldn’t refuse. According to reports, they offered and signed Crawford to 10 million plus dollars to fight on Pay Per View December 10, 2022, against David Avanesyan (29-3-1, 17KOs). Crawford has reportedly already received $5 million of the guaranteed $10 million purse and stands to make even more money if enough fight fans purchase the fight. What was the alternative? The alternative for Crawford was to agree to PBC terms and fight Spence with no guaranteed money. BLK Prime Boxing likely put up a spirited effort and marketed the Crawford vs Avanesyan fight, so they don’t lose money, but rather make money for all involved. It can be inferred they didn’t tell Crawford “We can’t pay you big because were gonna lose money”, but rather sign with us your worth the risk so we want to invest in you. So what happens after December 10, 2022, if Crawford wins against Avanesyan? Crawford earned a reported $7 million for fighting Shawn Porter and will earn a reported minimum of 10 million for fighting Avanesyan. If Crawford and Spence resume negotiations where will the negotiations start for a Crawford vs Spence fight? It Certainly won’t be where they left off with Crawford reportedly agreeing to fight with no guaranteed purse. The previous offer for Crawford to fight Spence will no doubt change. Spence is saying that making the 147 lbs weight limit is difficult. Spence also has a dangerous welterweight contender named Jaron “Boots” Innis waiting for a title fight. Fight Fans still want Crawford vs Spence. Some are holding out hope that Crawford vs Spence will fight in 2023. Who knows? Both camps have will have to compromise and sign a deal within reasonable amount of time. If Both camps are unable to come to an agreement it will not the first time a “Big Fight” didn’t happen. Crawford and Spence don’t have to fight each other. There are other exciting welterweight fights that can be made. This Writer knows fans who made plans, purchased airline tickets, and made hotel reservations for November 2022 (one of the rumored fight dates for Crawford v Spence) in Las Vegas only to be disappointed. This was before any official announcement was made, only rumors. That’s how bad fight fans wanted this fight so there is still interest. If Crawford vs Spence fight does not happen boxing will lick its wounds and produce other “big fights”. Many fight fans want to see Crawford vs Ortiz. If Spence stays at welterweight many Fans want to see Spence fight Jaron “Boots” Innis. The WBC has recently ordered Spence to fight former champion Keith Thurman which is a good fight. A Spence vs. Thurman fight is reportedly being finalized for February 2023. Perhaps fight fans may get Crawford vs Spence, but at this stage it seems unlikely or down the road. Only Crawford, Spence and those at the negotiating table know what really happened as to why the fight was not signed. Regardless, All the past negotiation and reasons is moot at this point because Crawford now has 10 million reasons on Saturday night why he is not fighting Errol Spence. Boxing Notes Ryan Garcia and Gervonta “Tank” Davis have agreed to a fight even though Ryan fights for Golden Boy promotions and Tank Davis may no longer be under contract to Mayweather Promotions or he still may be under contract. Only Tank and Mayweather promotions know what Tank’s contractual status is. Both fighters are taking tune-up fights prior to fighting each other. When a press conference is scheduled for Ryan vs Tank and fans are able to buy tickets that will be good for boxing… Dimitry Bivol continues to show that he is a great fighter and should be in the top 5 of the mythical Pound for Pound list”. He totally dominated an undefeated former world champion Gilberto Ramirez and handing him his first loss denying him a world title at 175lbs. This writer thought that Ramirez would beat Bivol. Much respect to Bivol… Jermell Charlo defends his undisputed titles against Tim Tszyu next month. Can Charlo counter Tszyu’s aggression, score knockdowns, and cause a stoppage, or will Tszyu outwork and stop Charlo. This will be a be an interesting fight. Contact Writer: Rluvsboxing@aol.com ***Ralph Rimpell is a writer based out of New York and is a Boxing Correspondent for Philboxing.com. Ralph holds an undergraduate degree from City University of New York. He has been a Boxing Writer for over ten years having written for several top boxing websites on the World Wide Web. Before becoming a writer, Ralph's passion was for professional wrestling until he realized professional wrestling was entertainment and not a real sport. It was at that time the 1984 US Olympic team made up of future stars such as Evander Holyfield, Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, etc. entered the professional ranks and signed with promotional outfit Main Events.It was also at that time a young exciting Heavyweight originally hailing from Brooklyn named Mike Tyson also turned professional and became the face of boxing. Young boxing fan Ralph just couldn't get enough of boxing as a large part of it was being broadcast on "free TV". As time went on, Ralph felt boxing writers were not being forthcoming with their boxing coverage, opinion pieces, interviews, etc. So Ralph decided to write an article and submitted it to a Boxing website thinking it would be deleted and ignored by the Editor. To Ralph's surprise his article was posted on their website and the readers embraced it. The rest is history. "I thank God for the Internet because it has created opportunities for writers like myself who likely would not have been given an opportunity to write for print publications. I hope someday soon to expand my role in Boxing on different levels." -- Ralph Rimpell Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ralph Rimpell.  |
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