Terence Crawford is on the brink of a mega-fight should he overcome former IBF 147lbs champion Kell Brook next weekend at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas.
Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) is undeniably one of the finest fighters on the planet and some observers’ pound-for-pound supremo yet others feel the WBO welterweight champion has lacked meaningful challenges at 147lbs with most of the weight’s leading boxers aligned with Al Haymon’s PBC vehicle.
Yet the Covid-19 Pandemic has forged unlikely but financially necessary alliances and Crawford’s promoter Bob Arum says an agreement with Haymon is likely, pitting his man against either WBC/IBF title-holder Errol Spence or WBA Super champion Manny Pacquiao in 2021. Crawford-Pacquiao had previously been mooted for Qatar, according to Arum, before those plans were halted by the shadow of the Coronavirus.
“The next [Crawford] fight is going to be, as far as I can control things, we’re not going to fool around, it’s going to be Pacquiao or Spence,” Arum told ESPN.com.
“It’s to everybody’s benefit for us [Top Rank and Haymon] to do it together. If the fighters want guarantees, I think Haymon would be reluctant to face that bill himself. If it cratered, he would lose a lot money. This way, he would have a partner in the money.
“Nobody is icing out anybody [anymore]. He’s not icing us out. We’re not icing him out. Everybody is working together. You have to cooperate to make the money.”
Any bout with Spence could take place at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, or Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas where socially distanced fans could be in attendance, according to Arum. Spence must first negotiate a December 5 assignment against former two-weight champion Danny Garcia.
Crawford craves the kind of paydays that only Spence or Pacquiao could realistically deliver in the short-term. The mega-fights are in touching distance, but Brook will have other ideas next Saturday.