By: Hans Themistode
Bob Arum was all smiles when his WBO welterweight star Terence Crawford scored a fourth round knockout win over former belt holder Kell Brook this past weekend. Yet, Arum was apparently fuming behind the scenes.
Crawford, 34, has never been loquacious. The soft-spoken Nebraska native has always been content with letting his hands do the talking for him. So it came as no surprise that he didn’t go on an adamant rant over who he would like to face next. Crawford simply stated that he would like to resume talks to face Manny Pacquiao while also reiterating that if a fight with unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. did not come to fruition, then he would have no problem with it.
Arum now, is sick and tired of being the mouthpiece for his fighter, and he’s tired of watching his bank account dwindle away because of his lack of star power.
“He’s got to promote like (unified lightweight champion Teofimo) Lopez does,” said Arum following Crawford’s victory. “He’s got to promote like (former featherweight champion) Shakur (Stevenson) does. Like (Floyd) Mayweather did. Like (Manny) Pacquiao did. If he doesn’t, then who the fuck needs him? He may be the greatest fighter in the world, but, hey, I ain’t going bankrupt promoting him.”
The words of Arum weren’t taken too well by team Crawford and his star has since fired back.
“If he feels that way then he can release me now,” said Crawford on the Ak and Barak show. “If he feels like I’m not an asset to his company then he can release me now.”
The hurt feelings and sideway glances coming from both parties is something that Arum could care less about. Business is business and the 88-year-old doesn’t believe he did or said anything wrong.
“I don’t give a shit if team Crawford got mad at me,” said Arum to The Athletic. “This business is not about getting mad. This business is about facts and the reality of the situation. What’d I say that was wrong? I’ll show him how much we’ve lost on his fights.”
For years now, Crawford has asked to face some of the bigger names in the welterweight division including Manny Pacquiao, Danny Garcia, Keith Thurman and of course, Errol Spence Jr. Crawford though, has settled for the likes of Jeff Horn, Jose Benavidez and most recently, Kell Brook.
More than any of those matchups, fans have been begging for a showdown between Spence Jr. and Crawford. Yet, with the unified titlist currently associated with Premier Boxing Champions and Al Haymon, the road to their contest has been an arduous one. With that being said, Arum is still willing to put up a significant amount of money in order to make the contest happen. And although he has always believed that Crawford is the best fighter in the world, if his promotional rival in Al Haymon decided to snatch Crawford away from it, then he would have absolutely no problem with that.
“If we did this fight with Spence and put our money in for half of the risk, and Crawford wins and Haymon wants to sign him be my guest for Christ’s sake! I don’t have to make a lot of money with him on this (Spence fight). I know I’ll break even or make a couple dollars. In other words, I am not going to go in my pocket anymore for Terence Crawford. I’m no longer in the business of losing money on Terence Crawford.”