Mike Tyson believes he has identified ‘the problem’ stopping Errol Spence Jr and Terence Crawford organising a fight.
Spence and Crawford are two halves of the undisputed puzzle in the welterweight division.
After being champion at two lower weights, Crawford moved up to 147lb in June of 2018 and beat Jeff Horn to become the WBO Champion. He has since made five successful defences, including against Amir Khan, Kell Brook and Shawn Porter.
Spence has also faced Brook – whom he won the IBF title from in 2017 – and Porter, the win giving him the WBC belt in 2019. Early last year, he beat Yordenis Ugas by tenth round stoppage to add the WBA to his collection.
In the eyes of fans, there is no other fight to make for either man right now, and it’s been that way for a while. Despite talks apparently being positive once again, there has been no concrete announcement.
According to ‘Iron’ Mike, that’s because they want money that’s not there. On his Hotboxin’ podcast, he told UFC star, Kamaru Usman, that Spence wasn’t a ticket seller, and went on to hint the same about Crawford.
“The problem with that fight is he wants money but he couldn’t sell 5,000 tickets. You’ve gotta be a ticket seller. That’s why Conor McGregor worked so well – he’s a ticket seller.
That’s what the problem is – I don’t think they could get 5,000 seats.”
Fans perhaps came closest to seeing the contest last year, but things fell apart and Crawford ended up defending against David Avanesyan.
Information from both camps is now looking up once again, with Spence making fans aware that he’s looking at no other opponent. He’s over a year inactive now, though, perhaps providing one more obstacle.