WBO welterweight champion Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford 36-0 (27) has nominated Errol Spence Jr and Manny Pacquiao as his two targets for 2020.
Spencer Jr 26-0 (21) added Shawn Porter’s WBC strap to his IBF belt with a split decision victory in September, while Pacquiao 62-7-2 (39) annexed Keith Thurman’s WBA crown on points in July.
Crawford and Spence Jr have been engaged in some heated exchanges on social media, but the 32-year-old Nebraskan insists he was just speaking the truth.
“I was just speaking facts, and I wasn’t speaking any faulty news or anything. I mean, I was speaking all facts,” said Crawford to Fighthype.
“[My friend] saw that I was being irritated, and he grabbed my phone and he went Instagram live, and just let him do it. I was laughing.
“You saw how it went, and how it transpired on Twitter, and on how I was going to call him. So I called him up and we talked briefly.
“That was that. Listen, when things fall in place, that fight is going to happen. I’m looking at all of them.”
Crawford says it doesn’t bother him who he fights next, but he wants it to be either Spence Jr or Pacquiao, who he regards as the number one and two in the division.
“Them are the two 1 and 2’s or the 2’s and 1’s or however you want to put it,” said Crawford. “Those are the fights that I want at this point in my career, because those are the fights that get me to the undisputed.
“So those are the fights that I really want in my career and are looking forward to. If I can’t get Spence, then I want Pacquiao or vice versa. It don’t matter. I would like them one after another.”
Another option could be unified junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor, who has just signed with Crawford’s promoter Top Rank.
“He’s at 140 right now and there’s no interest in that fight right now,” Crawford said. “But that’s not to say in the future, the near future, when he moves up, there would be interest. But like I like before, Spence and Pacquiao are on my radar as #1 and #2 fight right now.”
Crawford refused to rule out another move up in weight, with a clash against newly minted WBO junior middleweight champion Patrick Teixeira 31-1 (22) recently being touted.
“If neither one of those fights don’t happen, then we’ll go look elsewhere. When you’re great, they do that,” said Crawford. “That shows how advanced I am, and levels above.”
