Terence Crawford to fight on June 13, Pacquiao or Brook potential opponents

Boxingnews24.com

By Chris Williams

Welterweight champion Terence Crawford’s manager/trainer Brian McIntyre says his fighter will be fighting next on June 13 against possibly Manny Pacquiao or Kell Brook. Those are two guys at 147 that Crawford’s promoter Bob Arum is working on to set-up the WBO welterweight champion’s next fight in June, according to ESPN.

For Crawford to get a fight against Pacquiao, his promoter Bob Arum would need to make a HUGE offer. Crawford has only headlined two pay-per-view fights during his 12-year pro career against Viktor Postol and Amir Khan. Unfortunately, neither of those fights brought in a lot of PPV buys.

Pacquiao the Plan-A option for Crawford’s fight in June

Arum revealed earlier this week that Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) is the first option for Crawford’s next fight. But if for some reason Arum can’t get the WBA welterweight champion Pacquiao to take the fight with Crawford, then he’ll move to the plan-B opponent. That’s former IBF 147-lb champion Brook (39-2, 27 KOs).

Pacquiao is with PBC, and Crawford is with Top Rank at ESPN. However, that doesn’t preclude a fight between the two 147-lb champions impossible. It just makes things a little more complicated.

A fight between the two welterweight champions could happen in a joint network deal between Fox and ESPN, similar to how last Saturday’s fight between former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury took place. Wilder is with Fox, whereas Fury is with ESPN.

McIntyre: Pacquiao vs. Crawford being worked on

“They say that they’re working on [Manny] Pacquiao,” McIntyre said to ESPN.com. “Fox and ESPN said they were going to try to work together to make something. They were going to look at the guy overseas, Kell Brook.”

Pacquiao is expected to fight in Saudi Arabia in his next fight in July, and Mikey Garcia is a strong option for that fight. Mikey’s promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing has the option for his next fight, and he’s going to make an offer to Pacquiao to come over to Saudi for a July bout.

McIntyre says he would be open to having Crawford come to Saudi to face Pacquiao. Errol Spence Jr. is another guy that Arum wants to match against Crawford, but he recently crashed his Ferrari on October 10 in Dallas, and he very likely won’t be available to face Crawford this year.

McIntyre believes a fight between Crawford and Spence is possible in 2021, depending on the Dallas native’s status from the car crash.News:Bob Arum working on Terence Crawford vs. Manny Pacquiao for June or July

Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) beat Egidijus Kavaliauskas in his last title defense on December 14 at MSG in New York.

“They are working on Pacquiao… If not, we are looking at Kell Brook.” @BomacBrian lays out options for @terencecrawford’s next opponent (via @StevESPNKim) pic.twitter.com/H9Z8KSVslK

— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) February 28, 2020 News:Mikey Garcia wants Pacquiao fight after he beats Jessie Vargas on Saturday

Will Crawford vs. Brook interest U.S fans?

If Crawford wants to interest American fans in June 13 fight, he’ll need to find a relevant welterweight for him to fight on that date. Brook is viewed by fans as a guy from a bygone era at this point in his career, and he’s not someone that will help Crawford. Top Rank is now putting Crawford’s fights on pay-per-view, and he’s not built up a big enough fan base to bring in buys, especially when he’s facing foreign fighters like Brook or Khan.

Brook would have been a great choice for Crawford if he fought him in 2016 BEFORE Gennadiy Golovkin knocked him out in 5 rounds, but not now. It’s been all downhill for Brook since he was blasted out by Gennadiy in September 2016 in London, England.

These are the fighters that Crawford needs to be fighting:

Keith Thurman
Jermall Charlo
Jermell Charlo
Shawn Porter
Danny Garcia
Yordenis Ugas
Vergil Ortiz Jr.
Josh Taylor
Jeison Rosario
Julian Williams
Tony Harrison
Erislandy Lara

Does Crawford LACK the popularity to bring in PPV buys?

The Nebraska native Crawford doesn’t have a proven track record when it comes to PPV events. Crawford is NOT a PPV draw that can help Pacquiao bring in buys. What Pacquiao doesn’t need is a dead-weight opponent where he’s the only one attracting fans to purchase the fight on PPV.

In that scenario, Crawford would be coming along for the ride, and Pacquiao would be expected to bring in most of the fans. That’s asking a lot of the 41-year-old.