October 21, 2022
Boxing News

Crawford to fight Avanesyan next

So much for Crawford-Spence. WBO welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford will reportedly fight David Avanesyan in a $35.95 PPV on December 10 at CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska. The bout will be offered via the BLK Prime streaming service. Crawford told ESPN that Errol Spence, who holds the WBC, WBA, and IBF titles, “didn’t want the fight as bad as I did. I agreed to all of their [B.S.] and they’ve been dragging their ass for months.” With Crawford-Spence on the backburner until 2023, Crawford wanted to get a fight in during 2022. Spence reacted on social media by saying that it was Crawford who has “been stalling for months. I could’ve fought in November.”

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  • Blah, blah & blah! Both of you are at fault and your egos are bigger than your will to fight the best. I knew for certain this fight would not get made and really don’t care if it gets made now. The Charlos sisters need to move up and let Errol and Crawford move up to 54, while boots takes over at 147. Maybe Spence and Crawford can get it done at 54, because it sure is shit isn’t going to get done at 147 now.

  • BLK Primes main page states that it is: a subscription VOD co. that offers “multi cultural content to a diverse audience worldwide”… as if other content providers fail to do so.. In reality if the major providers solely offered themselves to a narrow target audience then they would not be as profitable.. The tagline is “More color, More Content”. That is debatable. Crawford probably wants to secure a higher % of the PPV revenues but he makes the mistake of selecting the wrong provider. There will be less buyers.

    • He’s getting his highest ever guarantee for this fight so the buys probably won’t matter much. If the rumors are to be believed he’s not getting ANY guarantee for the Spence fight. He’s supposed to get a % of the net profit as a “partner” in the promotion but PBC won’t let him see what expenses out of the gross will get to that net profit. That’s supposedly the hold up.

  • I told you so. It never had anything to do with who the promoter was for Crawford. Spence wants to milk that “0” in his record until the end.

    • Crawford is the one who refuses to fight Spence…..But he is good at blaming everyone else. Do some research before you talk trash!

      • You’re wrong. Errol has always said Crawford was on the wrong side of the street etc. The PBC even said as recently as Feb that they weren’t keen on making the fight because they didn’t think the fight would generate enough income. This all public knowledge so it stand to reason that they are putting roadblocks up delaying the fight.

        • The fight won’t generate enough income? Are you just putting a bunch of words in a post to try to impress us with your supposed inside information? It isn’t working

  • Honestly folks, I’m sick and tired of this B.S already. The amount of money that can be made on both ends, especially if the fight lives up to expectations and an immediate rematch! This is extremely disappointing!! Sorry Bud, but I won’t be watching homie!!

  • Oh and BTW, don’t play with the Boxing Gods! Imagine Bud losing this fight and totally ruins the Spence fight in the process. Anyone remember what happened to Zab right before he was scheduled to face Mayweather?

    • Zab lost to Baldomir and Erik Morales lost to Zahir Raheem before the Pacquiao rematch as well. Good point.

      • This proves very little. Zahir Raheem dominated Erik Morales but guess what he still go the fight he wanted. In this case, Raheem should have been given the Pacquiao fight. Zab Judah lost but still got the Mayweather fight. If anything a Crawford loss will ensure the fight is made.

        • I have a hard time thinking that would happen in this case Hawn, given that a large chunk of the attraction here is crowning an undisputed champion. But, even so, there’s always Tommy Morrison – Michael Bentt, Victor Ortiz – Josesito Lopez and I probably could come up with other examples of losing out on big fights because you lost a tuneup.

          • Interestingly enough, fans complain about top fighters not fighting each other, which is why they don’t. One loss doesn’t erase how good a fighter is. The fighter who loses is often more willing to comply with a deal to get themselves back in the mix. In this case, he likely wouldn’t get the shot at Spence but you never know.

  • Avanesyan definitely deserves his shot…. but what a GIANT disappointment. I don’t think they ever fight now and it goes down alongside Bowe – Lewis as one of the greatest fights never.
    Now everyone spends the next few months blaming everyone else.

    • I think the issue is they both want superstar money but they are not superstars. Are they as good as many past superstars…yes!!! But that does not make them superstars? No! What I am trying to say is they are superstars to us boxing people but not to the rest of the world. It is when the non boxing fans become interested that the real big money comes in. In their regular fights the purse bid maybe 20 million. They Get 15 plus and the other gets 5 at the most. Now the purse bid only goes up to say 30 million or less…yet because they are fighting each other…they want more and heaven forbid if one gets too much more then the other. The pie maybe be bigger but the piece they each want is too big. Why? Because Crawford and Spence could come over to my apartment, walk right into my building and no one would know or care. Leanard,Hearns, Delahoya,and Trinidad…..could not.

      • I hear you Pete, about the money, but Crawford is going to get his check for the fight against Avanesyan and it’s going to be a fraction of the money they were talking about for this one and probably a fraction of what he got for Porter and maybe even Brook. The next fight he fights will be the same situation most likely and every other fight after that. Same with Spence. He’ll go fight Stanionis or whoever and make good money – but it won’t be like this.

        • This does make me understand your comments about Benevidez – Plant even more. Hard to believe that it is this hard to put a fight like this together. It is like we have reached a point in this sport where ego or getting the upper hand in negotiations is more important then legacy. There is no shame. Like when Floyd Patterson’s management was ducking Sonny Liston….he was embarrassed. Sure that caused him to get brutalized twice but he did the right thing because his legacy and his honor meant something to him. If these guys do not fight each other they will be remembered more for that then anything else. One would think that would be enough to make this happen…but at least for now…it does not seem to be the case.

          • No promotional or network streets to cross. Huge fight, undisputed title, everyone wants to see it…. cannot make the fight. I’m sure it’s not that simple at all, but damn! Like fighters take wins and losses, this is a LOSS for everyone in charge of negotiating this fight.

      • Not the in this fight Crawford took way less money but Spence team could not be transparent with the condescension, which is not professional. I think Spence is looking at making a run for a Canelo fight

    • Add this one to the loooong list of let-downs in our sport. Even if it happens mid 23, the mystique is gone as both are no longer at their peaks. Camacho- Whittaker comes to mind

  • These guys are absolutely pathetic. Both run their mouthes and want everyone in the media to proclaim them both as the best of the generation but they are pathetic. I’ve come to believe this generation of fighters is completely safe first ,avoid the real challenges and brag about your undefeated record all the way. Who stands out ? Fury faced wilder three times when no other top guy will, Doniare is a fearless take on anyone badass and critics slay Canelo but he fought all the other titleholders in his division at least! These two whiny losers won’t ever see a dollar for any fight from me in the future. If they fight now so what? They barely fight anyways and are getting too old to compare with previous welterweight greats who met in their prime! Losers both of them !!!

    • I see the agenda you’re on. You might want to open your lenses when it comes to “who stands out.” Dude, Wilder wants all of the smoke. He is the one guy in the HW division who is calling out fighters by name. Haney went overseas twice to take the undisputed title. Fury is currently fighting Chisora when Usyk was calling him out. Why is he fighting Chirosa for the 3rd time? Devin Haney is the one fighter at 135 who is willing to do anything to get the big fights. He was dodged by Lomachenko, Lopez, Ryan Garcia and Kamboso tried to doge him but was forced to fight. Clarissa Shield went overseas to become the 3-division unified champ after conquering her only defeat in the Olympics. Errol Spence went to the UK and took prime Kell Brooks title and he fought prime Shawn Porter (who has fought everyone). Stop it with the CAP. In this case, BUD should have taken the deal. Spence has already proven himself.

      • I think it’s absolute BS to call Porter prime with Spence and not prime vs Crawford. Also how prime was Brooke? He just came off getting destroyed by GGG in a fight he moved up to 160 and got his orbital bone broke. In less than a year he comes back down to 147 and gets his orbital bone broke again. I’ve never seen any fighter do something like that before. 26 lb swing in less than a year after getting smashed=prime. Mmmmmmm

        • when Spence fought Brook he was top dog at 147 and 147 to 160 is 13lbs not 26

        • Porter had one foot out the door. Crawford stopped him and it gave him a reason to leave. Do you REALLY believe Porter would have stopped boxing if he was stopped by Spence? Brook was the champ and had far more in the tank then when Crawford fought him. Yes, I’d say he was prime. It depends on how you look at it. Does the orbital bone show a weakness in the defense of a prime Brooks, or does it show how great Spence was? If he’s getting hit in the same area it doesn’t mean he’s not prime, it means he has a weakness obviously. If a boxer is great but has trouble with a particular style and tends to lose to that style is that a weakness or were they never in their prime?

      • Spence fought Brook who was coming off a bad beating from GGG. He had a crushed eye socket that had to have a titanium plate put in. Brook was damaged goods.

        • If Brooks (champion) was “damaged goods” when Spence fought him in the UK then what was he years later when Crawford fought him? That is the point I’m making. Crawford fought guys Spence fought years ago and they were not getting better but worse. At this point in his career, Crawford should be fighting dudes such as his opponents. He’s 36 with little time to waste.

    • Most Al Hayman fighters fight once a year and against inferior competition. I don’t understand Hayman’s fighters make a living. You get paid to fight not sit at home.

      • True but when you make millions a year fighting once a year … you get too chill. These boxers today are all about that. Sad, really! Checkout the 80’s and 90’s champions they fought 2 or 3 times a year.

  • Bud the F’N dud. Make whatever excuses you want, but Haney said F it and won all the belts. Don’t know whose lying, but if dude wanted the belts he woulda made it happen. He” keep doing like he’s done since he won the strap from Horn, FIGHT NOBODY!!!

  • Crawford seems to have got very comfortable defending his title and displaying his silky skills against opponents not quite on his level. Spence has shown he’s willing to get right in the trenches in order to prove a point. He did it against Porter and, more recently, Ugas. He’s rather less safety first than Crawford so I’m inclined to believe it’s Crawford who’s letting this thing collapse.

    • Ugas had 4 losses. Crawford fought Porter as well. Both Garcia’s we’re washed and both trending down hard. FYI

      • Amir Khan was washed up. Kell Brook was washed up. Benevides has a bullet in his leg and fought on one leg. Porter was trending down as he was now just an opponent. Mean Machine is a B level fighter at best.. why pick the bum he’s fighting next, and not Boots? Boots has been calling him out for over a year? Crawford’s resume is trash.

  • Crawford is NOT a smart businessman. He should have taken the deal if he was that confident of a victory. Even Floyd took a lesser deal to fight Oscar and it paid off. Bud is 36 and will end up playing himself into a worse deal once the number against David Avanesyan prove he’s not marketable. If he were smart he’d fight a solid guy at 154. At least it sparks interest to show how he does against a bigger opponent.

  • Crawford wants to make a cushy amount and add that to his next fight that he might get shortchanged on. Whatever he thought he was entitled to vs Spence and didn’t believe he’d get, he’ll get on a hometown defense he thinks he has in the bag. Avanesyan has a punchers chance. Plus, Spence may not hang around at 147 now that this fight is delayed longer. Spence said he’d never fight Thurman. And why should Spence drain himself to 147 for Ennis or Ortiz? Crawford can go make his $ on his hometown defence butnshouldn’t believe 100% Spence will be at 147 for an early 2023 mega fight. Crawford won’t move up to 154 to chase Spence or Tszyu vs Charlo winner.

    • I don’t think Spence wants to fight Charlo. Spence will fight some of the lower rated Jr. Middle’s and wait for Charlo to move up or get beat.

  • Disappointing PBC can’t put this together. Bud’s willing to do the fight for the percentage, but just wants partner privilege to see where all the money goes. As a free agent I think he deserves that. By reading the comments on here it looks like nobody knows what’s going on here by blaming the fighters.
    Both Arum and PBC in the past year have made comments on how hard this fight is to make. It’s literally the biggest fight in boxing and it looks neither fighter despite the split % will make the money they deserve for a fight of this magnitude. It’s high risk because the promoters won’t clear what they want for the work as well. And the end all be all comment “I’ll get Crawford after I clean up my side the street” is the biggest indication it’s not Crawford. I don’t see how anyone can defend that.

    • I hate to say it because he cheated the boxers, but Don King always found a way to make the big fights. Many of his promotions had multiple championship fights.

  • If I was Virgil Ortiz and Boots Ennis I would fight one another and promote it as the two best welterweights in the world willing to fight. Stantonis gets the winner. Fundora said he could make welter, throw him in there too. Bud is old and Spence is getting there. By the time these guys finish their round robin a clear new best welterweight in the world will emerge while these two throw insults at each other from their rocking chairs.

  • Between crap like this and horrible undercards Boxing promoters are kill the sport. Look around dummies at leasy UFC fighters fight the best

  • That is it. I am done with these two guys. I will never pay for another PPV with either. Greedy SOB’S! Even if the split was 60/40, the B side would make more money than all his fights combined. If these fighters wanted it, it would happen. Crawford said it was Arum, but now he is a free agent and he still cannot agree to terms. The boxing fans should boycott their PPV events until they give the fans what they want!

    • I lost all respect for Bud Crawford when he sued Bob Arum, whom he claims doesn’t like him because of his skin color. What a dumb ass Crawford is! Like Arum really gives a bleep about Bud’s skin tone!!!

  • It is rumored that pbc , Haymon and Showtime are tight on money and are watching every penny.The clan invested heavily with their so called boxing reform by paying boxers more while feeding us many weak match ups .During that time pbc had to pay networks to televise garbage fights when it should have been the opposite and pbc collecting money. If Showtime is affected by an economic slowdown they may consider dropping their boxing leg of the network just like HBO did.nobody knows exactly what happened with the negotiations but it may not be Spence or Crawford’s fault

  • When I was young people were famous because they were special, today people are special because there famous. Nuff said?

  • Spence don’t want that smoke y’all trying to tell y’all Crawford got him worried Crawford agreed to all of their [B.S.] and they’ve been dragging their ass for months. Spence was nowhere to be found while I was trying to make the deal,” Crawford continued. “I explained to Al Haymon and Errol that I was going to fight before the end of the year. … David Avanesyan is a very tough task. He’s knocked out his last six opponents and this guy is dangerous. Once I’m successful against Avanesyan, my plan is still the same: Whoop Errol Spence’s ass.”PBC declined to comment on the failed Spence-Crawford negotiations.

  • Wow, both of these guys and their camps are fools to leave that type of money on the table. If the fighters wanted it bad enough, it would’ve happened. Both Crawford and Spence are high risk to the other and both know it and don’t want to lose their undefeated records in an age when a loss can upend your marketability when it isn’t there for either of them to begin with. As others have expressed here, I don’t care if this fight gets made or not. I’d love to see all four belts get unified, but that’s the only appeal for me. Pete hit the nail on the head when he said these guys want superstar money but no one outside of boxing fans know who they are. Neither one is a compelling enough figure to get the attention of non-boxing fans and neither has the personality power to capture anyone’s imagination. What neither fighter and their respective camps seem to understand is they need to fight each other and have great fights for non-boxing fans to give a crap about them, which will likely get them closer to the De La Hoya and Mayweather money.

  • I am putting more blame on Crawford. If he had agreed to everything the fight would have been signed. I am sure he thought about it a bit and decided he wanted more and Spence wouldnt budge.

  • Whomever believes Crawford is at fault is in the finger paint level of life. Spence left the building instead of challenging Terence, after Bud beat Porter. Yet, Errol found it in himself to challenge Porter in-ring, after Shawn beat Garcia. These are the facts, thus far. The barometer this hour is; in their common, most recent opponent [ Porter ] Terence acutely surpassed Errol. It just so happens Errol was in the audience and decided to leave the building. Why? Why did Errol leave rather than, challenge his apex nemesis, au·thor·i·ta·tive·ly? People are not asking themselves this. And weighing facts. That is the ‘Question of 2022.’
    Al Haymon was also a part Floyd’s six years away from Manny. ©️Coach Hilario 2022

    • I don’t know Errol. I’ve got the impression that he can be a bit grumpy. Kind of like a teenager whining about anything. That’s how I see his behavior when he left the arena. Nothing more than that except an immature behavior.

      When it comes to a possible fight, I think Terrence made a mistake by making a lot of noise when Errol was clearly not at his best. It is dishonest.

      The only thing that is clear to me is that no fight is agreed upon. How is it that? If both really want to go up against each other for real?

      Maybe it’s a sign, as their behaviour, of the tremendous pressure both feel when talking about this superfight?

  • No shocker there. The game plan is simple: Age Crawford out. It’s the PBC way. Stalling this fight is fear driven. Once again, WE get to miss out on another must have and will settle for the discussion in the future of what would have been had Bud and Spence battled at their peaks. Theyre both past their peaks, so the fight has lost its luster.

  • spence /crawford would of been a good fight but boxing these days is not that great with the matchups does crawfords opponent really stand a chance guess not crawford said he needs a fight before the years up i guess he got one

  • Crawfish is now acting like Superhype Ryan and calling people out then backing out with some BS excuse he needs to either step up or shut up

  • If Crawford and Spence Jr. are going up against each other, they must do it when both are at the peak of their abilities.

    It is always easy to challenge someone who just got out of the hospital. Maybe the patient looked too strong against Ugas. Better waiting?

    About Crawford vs Avanesyan. I think Josh Kelly in his better moments against Avanesyan showed what we can expect of the fight.

  • Remember when Crawford parted ways and sued Arum for being racist cuz Bob couldn’t make the Spence fight..?

    • Crawford lost me probably for ever that time. If you’ve got some dignity you don’t call people racists without proof. And it must have to be waterproof. I will not contribute with $$$ to his fights after that.

  • These two guys are scared of losing to each other. Who’s paying $35 to watch Crawford on a PPV vs a tomato can? The guy has no fan base and the only way he can get his best paycheck is fighting Spence. Spence also needs Crawford. We have two fools unwilling to fight each other.

  • What a joke now he beats this no name and they will say OMG P4P1# He beat David what a masterful performance

  • Bud is my guy. He’s a throw back fighter, a great husband and father to his wife and kids and just a all around stand up guy.
    I have more respect for Bud now than before he stepped to Spence on the video posted on You Tube, and told him lets get it on, and Spence’s response was to try to fight a guy in Bud’s entourage and then try to match up Dereck James with to fight Bo Mack.
    Bo Mack said that Spence, “is not true to his craft”. And it shows strip clubs drinking and drunk driving, is the reason he went from being the “Truth” to being the “Tooth”.
    Enough of the fooling around with Spence, it’s way past the time to move along.

    Bud is going to The Hall Of Fame when it’s all said and done, and the Tooth will most likely end up in rehab.

  • This is a direct result of Floyd Mayweather’s decade of extracting millions of dollars from working class boxing fans. Mayweather damaged boxing forever and now big fights don’t get made and the competitive ingredients of these fights expire. I told everyone back then and I’m telling you now. Floyd Mayweather was overated and a cancer to the sport. Sad.

  • As a huge boxing fan and former boxer boy do I miss the 80’s and 90’s when the champions fought everyone. I understand they want the most $$$ but they scared to lose their 0. I blame both fighters. Can’t wait to see these PPV numbers. I guaranteed they will be awful. smh

  • These cats think they can’t Pac – May money. They earned their stripes. Crawford – Spence are not even on their levels smh

  • Fake ass. Front runner. Punk.
    Been saying it for years.
    Nobody will buy this crap and shouldn’t.
    Let’s take boxing back from the sissies.
    We (the fans who pay) employ these types.
    I say fire him..

  • Al Haymon using old school don king tactics. Todays fighters are much smarter. Show profits Al cause you making Spence look soft by only fighting old small champs.

  • Good that Crawford is getting another fight in this year. Spence doesn’t fight often enough.

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