By: Sean Crose
Legendary promoter Bob Arum spoke with FightHype and let it be known where he stands on the Errol Spence-Terence Crawford fallout that has disappointed much – if not all – of boxing fandom. It had been hoped that the two welterweight kingpins, both undefeated, would throw down before 2023. Suffice to say, the fight ain’t happening – at least not anytime soon. “I just think it became difficult,” Arum said of the negotiations, “because PBC (Premiere Boxing Champions) did a great job promoting Errol Spence, and Terence Crawford was in effect left without a promoter, and so it became difficult for (PBC honcho) Al Haymon to make that fight.”
Crawford was once promoted by Arum, who it had been argued was the reason a fight with Spence wasn’t coming to fruition. “What would have happened had the fight been done earlier,” said Arum, “and if we were promoting Crawford ,we would have sat down with Al the way we did with Pacquiao-Mayweather and the way we did Wilder-Fury and worked out the nitty gritty promotional deals that have to be done in order to put a fight of that magnitude on. I don’t blame Al, I don’t’ blame Errol spence, I don’t blame Terrence. It’s was very difficult when one guy has a promoter and the other guy doesn’t.”
Arum, who some feel disrespected Crawford while promoting him, made it clear to Fight Hype that he felt no one was particularly at fault in the matter. “There simply wasn’t an effective way for the two parties to negotiate,” he said. “He (Crawford) was really left in limbo without a promoter so it became difficult for Al to get both fighters on the same card, on the same track, and therefore the fight fell apart.” Arum went on to add that the fight could have been made with or without the backing of Top Rank, the promotional outfit he runs and that Crawford was once a part of. “No blame on anybody,” he said. “Terence chose not to continue his relationship with Top Rank, and if he had gone with another major promoter who would have sat down with Al to try to make the fight it probably would have happened.”
And where does Arum feel things will go from here?
“Spence and Crawford will go their merry way,” he said, “and maybe when the fight is past its sell date they’ll get together and do that fight the same way we did Mayweather and Pacquiao after all the back and forth.”