YOU could forgive Terence Crawford for sounding a note of frustration. The last great champion of his division, Floyd Mayweather, is taking part in exhibitions in Japan, while the reigning titlists in his division, like Keith Thurman and Errol Spence, are unlikely to agree to a unification clash with him any time soon.
But Crawford is quite content with defending his WBO welterweight championship against Amir Khan on April 20.
“I’m real pleased, I’m just excited for the whole outcome to the fight, I’m looking forward to the fight. On April 20 there’s going to be a lot of fireworks,” he promises.
Crawford could be the man to take over the welterweight division in the absence of Mayweather. He continues to happily pursue his career, on ESPN pay-per-view for his next fight, while on December 31 Mayweather took care of small Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa, knocking him out inside one round of what was scheduled to be a three-round exhibition. Crawford does not hanker for “Money” to return to competitive boxing.
“Not at all, not at all. If you look at history, Muhammad Ali did it. Mike Tyson did it. So why can’t he do it? It’s good for entertainment, he’s retired. I commend everything Floyd does because at one point in time he was the face of boxing,” Crawford told Boxing News.
Crawford is ready and waiting for the likes of IBF champion Errol Spence or WBA titlist Keith Thurman. They compete in Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions and Bob Arum, head of Top Rank promotions, does not expect them to work Top Rank to set up a unification with Crawford.
“I don’t know the problem with those guys over there. Everybody knows I want the biggest fights in the welterweight division. Everyone knows I want to fight the other champions. So I can’t make them fight me,” Terence said.
He relishes his upcoming contest with Amir Khan. “It’s a big fight. I’m excited for it. I’m up for it. It’s going to make for a great outing for boxing. The welterweight division is on fire right now. There’s a lot of big names that’s fighting. Everybody in the welterweight division has fights coming up. It’s going to make for some great fights down the line,” he said.
Crawford does have a ruthless streak and is expected to show off his finisher’s instinct against Khan. “If the knockout is there I’ll go for it. If it’s not, I’ll just make sure I control the fight and get the victory. But at the end of the day everybody wants to see a good fight. At the same time they want to see somebody get knocked out. I try to give the fans what they want but at the same time don’t take too many risks and get myself injured and risk the fight,” he said. “I don’t ever go out there looking for a knockout, I just go there looking for a win. That’s it. Come fight night that’s all I’m going to be looking forward to.
“I can’t predict the future, I’m just looking forward to going out there and being victorious.”
