Jermell Charlo Calls On Terence Crawford to Move to 154!
Among boxing fans, there are few with a pulse who don’t want to see Terence “Bud” Crawford (38-0, 29 KO’s) go to war with unified champion Errol Spence Jr. Spence and the WBO welterweight champion are deeper in negotiations than they’ve ever been, but there is potential trouble on the horizon. If the fight was to fall apart, the natural next question would immediately become: “if not him, then who?!” In terms of Crawford, that next “who” just may be undisputed super welterweight champion Jermell “Iron Man” Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KO’s)!
RELATED: Charlo To Crawford: “Fucking With Me Will Get You Knocked Out!”
Without question, the two have a history of trading degrading words via their social media accounts. This has been an off and on trend for a couple of years. Now the two are back at it again! True, this interesting duel has never resulted in anything but reddened Twitter thumbs but perhaps now is the time. Assuming that the Crawford versus Spence Jr. dust-up does crumble to dust, what’s a better fight than Bud versus Iron Man?
DOOR NUMBER 2!
There’s no doubt a bitter taste would long linger if Crawford didn’t chuck knuckles with Spence. Yet, Bud immediately challenging the undisputed champion in the next division would make for one juicy encounter as well. While different, only a dullard would view it as an easier fight. Charlo is at the peak of his skills, heavy handed, coming off a very gratifying knockout win over rival Brain Castano and brimming with confidence.
Going a step further, being that Iron Man is undisputed, most of his best fights at 154-pound would pit him against guys on the rise but unproven at the highest levels; fighters such as Tim Tszyu, Sebastian Fundora and Charles Conwell. Even as a newcomer to the higher-weight realm, Crawford would no doubt be the most skilled opponent of them all. The most talented, accomplished and by far the most established and visible adversary.
By same token, if Bud does not test his might with Spence, who is his best fight at 147? Similar talented up-and-comers such as Jaron Ennis, Vergil Ortiz Jr or the comical Blair Cobbs are available. Even older, on-the-way-out talent such as Keith Thurman are still lingering about, but do any of these names trump Spence or Charlo? In fact, the more one thinks about it, the better Crawford versus Charlo begins to sound. So, we’ll continue to hope that we get a fight to establish an undisputed champion at welterweight. But if not, a high quality challenge to the established undisputed 154-pound champ is a worthy consolation prize!
By: Bakari Simpson
