Bob Arum says Spence vs Crawford needs live gate
As the year comes to an end, fans are looking at 2021 with high hopes, and the fight between unified welterweight champion Errol “The Truth” Spence (27-0, 21ko), and WBO champion Terence “Bud” Crawford (37-0, 28ko) remains a top priority.
Recent developments have the boxing community unsure if the fight will ever take place. First there was the Texas unified champion’s split offer of 60/40. Crawford balked at the offer and claimed to be moving on.
KEEP HOPE ALIVE
There is a slither of hope as legendary promoter Bob Arum is hopeful the fight will happen. Just as well, the fight will need a live gate before they begin talking about a split. The Top Rank head honcho, who spoke with Barbershop Conversation, revealed his thoughts.
“It’s the fight everybody wants to see, and hopefully we will see it. We will all be in action after the first of the year. You see, it’s easy to talk about negotiating big fights, but until we know whether we can do gates of a big size…”
“Now, Spence in his last had some spectators at the AT&T stadium where the Cowboys play, but it’s not like packing in the spectators. It’s not like in Nevada where they pay crazy prices for the ticket. Until we know when that is going to happen, it’s hard to negotiate.”
Arum believes once we can get back to having full crowds, the gate for the fight will be in the ten to fifteen million dollar range. Furthermore, he explains how with the news of the vaccination for the COVID-19 pandemic, fans may feel confident enough to start going back to fights.
“When people are confident about going back, and they allow crowds, I hope with these vaccinations we will get to that by the end of spring or beginning of summer. And if we can, there will be so much money in the pot that we will be able to get that fight done.”
By: Garrisson Bland
