Veteran promoter Bob Arum (Top Rank) commented on the failure of the fight of the former ward WBO welterweight champion American Terence Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs) with compatriot Errol Spence (28-0, 22 KOs), the holder of all other division belts.
Previously, it was assumed that it was because of Arum that this fight was impossible. But the status of a free agent did not help Crawford very much – after lengthy negotiations with Spence, he decided to hold a moderately intermediate fight with ex-champion from Russia David Avanesyan in December.
“RVS Al Haymon did a great job in favor of Spence, – says Arum. “Meanwhile, Crawford was left without a promoter. For this reason, it was difficult for them to agree. Now imagine what would have happened if Crawford had stayed with us. We would sit down with Haymon’s people and make a deal just like we did for Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather and Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder. We would resolve all controversial issues and agree on a common promotion. We would do everything to arrange a fight of this magnitude.”
According to Arum, after the expiration of the contract with Top Rank “Crawford was on his own. And in this situation, it was very difficult for Al to satisfy both sides. Don’t blame Haymon. Don’t blame Spence. Don’t blame Crawford. After all, it is always very difficult to agree when one fighter has a promoter, and the second does not. For example, we do not blame anyone for anything. Terence didn’t want to renew his contract with us. He had every right to do so. But if he had made a deal with some other top promoter, then his chances of getting a fight with Spence would have been much higher – the fight would most likely have already taken place.
Arum does not rule out that “Spence and Crawford will part ways for a while. It is even possible that during this time this battle will overripe and lose its original value. But I think at some point they will still agree, as Mayweather and Pacquiao did earlier.”
Boss Top Rank knows nothing about the company BLK Prime, who offered Crawford an eight-figure fee to fight Avanesyan, but understands why Terence agreed to the deal: “Good luck to them … I don’t really know anything about them. And I don’t know what their plans and tasks are. I think that for Crawford such an offer is a huge success. If all this, of course, materializes.
So why didn’t Crawford and Spence agree on a fight? Hold Hearn’s opinion. Earlier, a fighter from Terence’s team stated that Spence offered Crawford 35%, while Ortiz refused the fight.