3 Fights to Make for ‘Free Agent’ Terence Crawford
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Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs) survived one of his toughest tests. He defeated Shawn Porter (31-4-1, 17 KOs) by 10th-round TKO to retain the WBO welterweight title. This marked Crawford’s fifth successful defense and extended his stoppage streak to a career-best nine fights.
The bigger news came after the fight. It was the final bout on the contract extension he signed with Top Rank in late 2018. Crawford is now a promotional and broadcast free agent.
While he did not commit to his next move, staying a free agent could be a smart strategy. It would let him leverage his unbeaten record for one-off fights across boxing’s promotional landscape.
This formula has worked for Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez since leaving Golden Boy Promotions in 2020, fighting under Matchroom and Premier Boxing Champions on his way to becoming the undisputed super-middleweight champion.
Crawford Eyes PBC & Top Welterweights
Crawford could sign with PBC, which manages many of the top welterweights, including Errol Spence Jr. (WBC & IBF titleholder), Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia, and Yordenis Ugas (WBA titleholder).
Many believe the biggest fight to make would be Crawford vs. Spence Jr. The two have gone back and forth, each blaming the other for the fight not happening.
Crawford said, “I don’t need Spence. I’ve been the No.1 guy in the division since I came here in 2018. Three-weight world champion. Undisputed world champion at junior welterweight. Coming into the welterweight division, my first fight I won a title by knockout of Jeff Horn. Everything I’ve done in my career stands on its own, not to take anything away from him.”
PBC fighters Spence Jr. and Ugas are scheduled to fight on April 16.
Predicting what could happen in boxing is as difficult as picking numbers for a Mega Millions lottery ticket. But, here are three fights Crawford should consider while a showdown with Spence Jr. continues to stall.
Keith Thurman (Former WBA Title Holder)
Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs) looked “okay” in a unanimous-decision victory over Mario Barrios. This was Thurman’s first fight since July 2019 split-decision loss to Manny Pacquiao. Thurman, who owns wins over Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia, could offer some excitement in this clash and this fight is more plausible than now that Crawford is a promotional free agent.
I see Crawford dominating Thurman in what would be a much hyped fight, but the skill level of “Bud” and his tenacity would overwhelm Thurman.
Vergil Ortiz Jr. (No. 4 Ranked Welterweight)
Ortiz (18-0, 18 KOs), is one of boxing’s fastest-rising stars and owns victories over former champion Maurice Hooker (7th-round TKO) and scoring an eighth-round stoppage of Egidijus Kavaliauskas. He called out Crawford after both wins. Ortiz isn’t a household name as of yet, but he has a solid ranking and skills to match.
I don’t know if calling out Crawford is enough to get his attention. But, maybe Golden Boy Promotions could make an offer that could be hard to refuse.
Jaron “Boots” Ennis (No. 5 Ranked Welterweight)
Ennis (28-0, 26 KOs) has continued to see his stock rise. Recently, Ennis made it look easy while taking care of business against respected veterans Thomas Dulorme and Sergey Lipinets (former champion). He stopped both before the final bell.
Crawford said of the 24-year old Ennis, “He’s very talented, dude got skills… I take my hat off to him. He’s doing what he needs to do to get his name out there. He’s going to be the next one up as well.”
Ennis is scheduled to fight Custio Clayton in an IBF welterweight title eliminator in spring of 2022. If Ennis could win the IBF title, I think Crawford would jump at the chance to fight Ennis and secure another piece of the welterweight title.
“Bud” is considered by most as the best fighter in the welterweight division and is currently ESPN’s No. 1 ranked welterweight. He has said he doesn’t need to fight Spence Jr., although most fans and media would disagree. I think there are other challenging fights out there for him.
One thing is for sure though, Crawford is still interested in testing his skills against the upper echelon of the division.
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