What would the build-up for a lackluster Top Rank PPV match-up be without a dangling carrot from Top Rank bossman Bob Arum, promising a much better fight after this one?
In a steady stream of public statements dating back to February, when Amir Khan was announced as WBO titlist Terence Crawford?s April 20 PPV opponent, Arum has indicated his desire to make a bout between his fighter, Crawford, and IBF welterweight champ Errol Spence.
As I wrote over at my other gig on FightHype.com:
??We would be very happy to do that fight,? Arum told the media prior to the March 16 Errol Spence-Mikey Garcia bout at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. ?If Crawford gets by [Amir] Khan, which I hope he will on April 20th, we want to do that fight. We?ll sit down and negotiate a fair deal and do that fight next.?
A week and a half later, the aged promoter would again make the Crawford-Spence call, this time via Twitter:
?@ErrolSpenceJr said that he is ready to fight @terencecrawford. We are ready to do that next, once Bud is successful against @amirkingkhan on April 20. It?s what fight fans want. Al, should I call you or will you call me??
Then, again, days later, Arum, in an interview with World Boxing News would go there again:
?I know from talking to Spence in the social setting and talking to Crawford, that these guys both want to fight each other?It?s a question of convincing Haymon that it?s the way to go with Spence but as far as we?re concerned, we?re all in (on both fights).??
And, just this Wednesday, the aged promoter again dangled Spence-Crawford to distract from Crawford-Khan.
?On Monday morning [following Crawford?s likely drubbing of Khan] I will call Mr.(Al) Haymon and say, ?It?s time to make this fight,?? Arum told favored personal bullhorn, ESPN?s Steve Kim.
The Hall of Fame promoter, who teased Mayweather-Pacquiao to help sell every post-2009 Manny Pacquiao fight until finally cashing out with the big one in 2015, knows a thing or two about sleight of hand and strategic ?no, look this way? media strategies.
The hope is that by the time April 20 rolls around, fans will be sold on Crawford going after Spence and content with coughing up some cash to see just how sharp Crawford looks against Khan.
But the Spence-Crawford dynamic is nothing like the Mayweather-Pacquiao dynamic. Crawford doesn?t command a huge wave of fan support like Pacquiao did and there are no viable, bankable Plan B options for ?Bud? should the blockbuster not happen.
Over on Top Rank?s side of the welterweight street, options for the elite-level Omaha, Nebraska native read like an eye chart with Egidijus Kavaliauskas and Kudratillo Abdukakhorov heading up Top Rank?s non-Crawford 147 lb. roster, alongside 38-year-old veteran and new signee Luis Collazo. There?s literally nothing there that could deliver a return on ESPN?s reported eight-figure paydays to Crawford.
On Spence?s side of street, however, there?s plenty of depth. Fellow Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) welterweights Keith Thurman, Manny Pacquiao, Shawn Porter, and Danny Garcia lead a pack that also includes Adrien Broner, Yordenis Ugas, Omar Figueroa Jr., Andre Berto, Jamal James, Sergey Lipinets, Andre Berto, Devon Alexander, Josesito Lopez, etc.
Although fans would love to see Spence-Crawford, there are plenty of salable fights out there for ?The Truth? if a Crawford fight can?t be made. Reportedly, details for Spence-Porter are being hammered out as you read this.
All of this tilts the game board in Spence?s favor and makes it so that, this time, Arum has to actually be genuinely earnest in efforts to make this big fight and, thereby, wedge his fighter into the welterweight elite discourse.
No hustles, no cons, no sleight of hand, or bait and switch. Arum needs PBC, Haymon, and Spence. He?s got a great bargaining chip in Crawford, who is, in many eyes, the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world at the moment and a generational talent. But can the old-school promoter play nice and sincere (and reasonable) in getting Crawford the fight(s) he needs?an effort that may require some major concessions from his side of the negotiating table? History screams ?no.?
