Bob Arum Foresaw Troubled Waters for Errol Spence v Terence Crawford
Bob Arum knows all the ins and outs of making big fights in boxing. The legendary promoter of Top Rank believed WBO welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford’s (38-0, 29KO) guarantee request was going to be the biggest obstacle in making the undisputed showdown with unified champion Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr (28-0, 22KO).
Boxing snatched the rug from under the fans with news of the undisputed welterweight bout no longer happening. When the news hit, it immediately became a blame game between the two fan bases of Spence Jr and Crawford.
BOB ARUM PREDICTED BUMPS ON THE ROAD
However, boxing enthusiasts felt the breakdown in making the fight came down to one main thing in the sport: money. During a press conference for three-divisional champion Vasyl Lomachenko and Jamaine Ortiz’s upcoming bout, Arum spoke candidly to the media about the situation.
“I was always somewhat skeptical that they would result in a fight because Crawford had no promoter. In order to really make a deal like that, you got to go in with a promoter who is prepared to put up a big guarantee for your side.
It was unfair for him to look at Al (Haymon) and ask for Al to put up a major guarantee because Al had no relationship with him. It’s another thing for Spence to ask Al to put up a guarantee because Spence has been Al’s fighter. So that was a real problem from the get-go in getting that fight on.”
THE AFTERMATH
Crawford is now fighting fringe contender David Avanesyan on December 10. Spence will have to deal with a serious situation involving WBA ‘regular’ champion Eimantas Stanionis and IBF top challenger Jaron “Boots” Ennis. Both camps have petitioned their respective sanctioning bodies to mandate a fight with the unified champion.
With the domino effect continuously dropping bad news, fans are praying the fight will eventually happen in 2023.
By: Garrisson Bland
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