Promoter Eddie Hearn has said he would be interested in signing WBO welterweight champion Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford 38-0 (29) while admitting Premier Boxing Champions might be a better fit for the free agent.
The 34-year-old southpaw Crawford is looking for a new promoter after his tumultuous long-term deal with Bob Arum’s Top Rank concluded after his 10th round stoppage victory over Shawn ‘Showtime’ Porter 31-4-1 (17) in Las Vegas last November.
PBC currently has a stranglehold on the welterweight division, with WBC and IBF champion Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence Jr, WBA champion Yordenis Ugas and former WBA champion Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman all on their books.
When asked on the MMA Hour if he would like to sign Crawford, Matchroom Boxing boss Hearn said: “Yes, because he’s a pound-for-pound top fighter. It goes back to the value of a fighter.
“Yes, I’ve had some chats with his representatives. The problem is what we can deliver for him in that weight class.
“It’s a weight class historically dominated by PBC. So it’s one thing in getting Terence Crawford and paying him great money, but the other one is what fight are you going to give him that is actually going to deliver for DAZN.
“We don’t have access to a lot of those welterweights that would deliver value, Errol Spence, the greatest example. Again, it goes back to how much money is Terence Crawford going to generate?”
There is no doubt that Crawford is one of the most talented boxers of his generation. He won his first world title at lightweight eight years ago when he lifted the WBO strap from Ricky Burns in Scotland and defend the belt twice before moving up in weight to the junior welterweight division.
In his two-year campaign at 140-pounds he unified all four major world titles to become the undisputed champion.
In 2018 he made his welterweight debut, defeating reigning WBO titleholder Jeff Horn by ninth-round knockout. He has defended the bauble five times since with each win coming by way of knockout.
Despite his undoubted success, the big fights have alluded him at 147-pounds.
“He’s an amazing fighter, but I just feel that perhaps promotionally, they [Top Rank] haven’t done as good a job on Terence Crawford to make him the draw that he should be.”
“I’m interested because he’s a great fighter, but I think we would struggle to deliver the numbers that he would want unless he were sensible.
“My idea of being sensible might be ludicrous to Adrien Broner, for example. That’s a good example. That doesn’t mean we’re always right, but we know the numbers. This is the difference. We know the numbers.
“Fighters and their representatives don’t really care about the numbers. They’ve got their own numbers.”
