Terence Crawford feels Keith Thurman is a bigger fight than Shawn Porter
Without question, WBO welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford (37-0, 28 KO’s) is an enviable talent in the sport. The Top Rank promoted fighter is a gifted switch-hitter, has frightening in-ring IQ and is a former undisputed super lightweight champion. Even armed with all these glossy accolades, Bud remains one of the most vexing figures in the sport. This is mainly for his apparent reluctance to fight the other top names in the 147-pound division. It’s a detractor that has followed him since he arrived at welterweight.
IT AIN’T MY FAULT!
Let Bud tell it, he will say that politics have prevented him from locking horns with the best that the division has. Thankfully he finally has a mouth-watering dustup with PBC pushed pugilist Shawn “Showtime” Porter (31-3-1, 17 KO’s) swiftly approaching on November 20. Yet, in his opinion, while Porter is top-notch opposition, Crawford feels that there are better selections to be made. One of those would-be examples is Keith “One Time” Thurman (29-1, 22 KO’s).
“I don’t believe that Porter is the only welterweight out there I can showcase my talent at a high level with. I believe Keith Thurman is a bigger fight, in my eyes. You know, but Keith Thurman is doing whatever he is doing!”
Aside from the “opposing side of the street “blues, Team Crawford stated that they didn’t fight Thurman because he priced himself out of the bout.
WHY NOW?
For many fans and enthusiasts, hearing Bud say this will no doubt illicit groans and inspire teeth sucking. This is because Thurman most certainly made his desire to test his might with Crawford extremely well known. To be honest though, One Time would have to undergo a change of heart. When Crawford initially entered the division, the Floridian, who was still a champion at the time, was very dismissive. He felt that Bud had not proven himself on the 147-pound landscape and had to do more. This was also his exact message to Errol Spence Jr.
After Thurman lost his title to Manny Pacquiao however, he changed his tune in an awful hurry. Minus his belt, and no longer being the official man to beat, One Time was miraculously eager to dance with Crawford and Spence. With the tables turned however, neither man was in a rush to provide him with a major payday. At the time, that made sense, but now, after hearing Bud, it’s not quite so clear. If Crawford thought Thurman was a great, big-time fight and both men needed a solid opponent, and Thurman is calling you out, why not fight him? There is no way that Bud can imply, suggest or pretend that he didn’t know One Time was hot on his heels.
TIME TO SHOW AND PROVE
While it’s outrageously frustrating to listen to fighters ensnare themselves in the sticky web of their own double-talk, it’s really just par for the course. At least we are getting Terence Crawford in arguably his best bout in the division. Some might say Porter is the best opponent of his professional career. Only time will tell if it plays out like that in the ring. Regardless of how the Crawford versus Porter dustup unfolds, let’s just hope that Bud continues competing against the best opposition available when it’s all said and done.
By: Bakari Simpson
