It was known that Terence Crawford would become a free agent following his win over Shawn Porter this past weekend, and it appears the WBO Welterweight Champion has made a decision on his future.
Sitting next to Top Rank's Bob Arum, Crawford sounded like he was ending things with the longtime promoter.
“I’m pretty sure my decision is made already,” Crawford said (h/t Bad Left Hook). “Bob couldn’t secure me the Spence fight when I was with him, so how is he gonna secure me the Spence fight when I’m not with him? I’m moving forward with my career right now and I wish everybody the best.”
Making his debut in 2008, Crawford won the WBO Lightweight Title in 2014 and the WBO Light-Welterweight Title in 2015. Teaming with Top Rank at this point, Crawford would become the undisputed champion of the latter division in 2017. He moved to the welterweight division in 2018 and beat Jeff Horn to become WBO Welterweight Champion.
Crawford has defended the Welterweight Title five times, often against opponents that many felt he was above. Arum has stated he could see Crawford fight WBC and IBF Welterweight Champion Errol Spence Jr. next or light-welterweight champion Josh Taylor. Whether that is with Top Rank is up in the air. Crawford could potentially compete per fight like Canelo Alvarez does.
Arum had an interesting take on the situation.
“Look, Tommy Hearns was in the ring [after Crawford-Porter],” Arum stated (h/t BoxingScene). “I never had a contract with Hearns more than one fight. Never had a contract with Leonard more than one fight. Hagler, maybe two fights. But never long-term contracts. We never had long-term contracts. If somebody comes and offers Terence a lot more money, he’d be a fool not to take it.
“But we think we can produce the best fight for him. It’s got nothing to do with personalities or anything. We know when we put a fight on, the fighters get treated well, they’re taken care of. But other people can do that also. So again, Terence will, if he’s smart, which I believe he is, will look at all the offers and see what’s the best way to go.”
Options for Crawford include Premier Boxing Champions, who does business with Spence, or Matchroom Boxing. For now, Crawford is looking to take some time off and come up with his decision when he feels he is ready.
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