By Chris Williams: Terence Crawford has got to make a decision for his next move given that his negotiations with A-side fighter Errol Spence Jr is failing to pan out for a fight on November 19th.
Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs) wants transparency for expenses for a fight with Spence (28-0, 22 KOs), but it’s questionable whether that’s going to happen.
If nothing changes in the negotiations for Spence-Crawford, then the 35-year-old Crawford is going to need to move on because he’s already been out of the ring for a year since his last fight against gatekeeper Shawn Porter since October 2021.
Unless Crawford wants to throw away more of his career, he needs to either give in to Spence’s side door move up to 154 to try and line up a fight against undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo.
“If your reporting is accurate, Crawford would be out of his mind not to insist on that,” said Max Kellerman to ESPN on the Errol Spence Jr vs. Terence Crawford negotiations for their undisputed clash at 147.
“You’re telling me that’s what’s holding it up, that Al Haymon, who is advising Errol Spence, is not giving Terence Crawford oversight over expenses or giving transparency of the books? He’s not letting him take a look at the books, and that’s why Crawford won’t sign.
“That sounds to me like a duck. That sounds to me like Al Haymon doesn’t think his guy [Spence] is going to win and is ducking Terence Crawford,” said Kellerman.
“Yes, this is a mess right now, Max,” said Mike Coppinger. “They’re trying to work through it. They thought they had a deal, and they [Crawford] need transparency over the expenses because that’s how much Crawford is going to make.
“This is a massive fight, as you said over and over. Crawford wants to make sure he’s being taken care of, of course, and it’s different. Errol Spence is on Al Haymon’s side. He’s with PBC. He’s a big star in his own right.
“Crawford is looking for some transparency in good faith, and so far, they’ve not been able to come to terms on that,” said Coppinger.
“Incidentally, I would welcome Al Haymon on this program to tell his side of his story. That’s an open invitation,” said Kellerman. “But it sounds like a duck to me. If it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, it’s a duck,” said Kellerman.
