Terence Crawford posted a picture today, posing in Samurai garb on Instagram, which fans took as a message that he wants to continue fighting. He didn’t fight like a brave Samurai against Canelo Alvarez on September 13th. It was more of a timid cat-and-mouse affair, involving a lot of movement from Crawford.
No Easy Payday This Time
Crawford’s coach, Bernie Davis, said yesterday that his price tag is $100 million to get him back in the ring. If that’s Terence’s number, his benefactor, Turki Alalshikh, is going to have to get him to agree to stick his neck on the guillotine to face David Benavidez.
If Bud wants that money, he’s going to have to show some courage, climb out of the foxhole, and meet ‘The Mexican Monster’ in no man’s land.
That’s a fight that would attract a massive amount of interest globally. If Crawford wants to keep making the same kind of dough that he got for the Canelo fight, facing Benavidez is the way to do it.
Mount Rushmore Still Out of Reach
Moreover, it’s the best way for Crawford to earn a spot on the Mount Rushmore of boxing. He lacks the credentials right now to be in the top 4 or even in the 20. Terence’s resume is empty of wins over young elite-level fighters.
The idea of Crawford moving down to 160 to fight for a world title against one of the non-popular middleweight champions likely isn’t going to work for that kind of money. There wouldn’t be enough fan interest worldwide in seeing Crawford battle for a sixth division world title against one of these champions:
- Janibek Alimkhanuly
- Carlos Adames
- Erislandy Lara
The fights that would likely attract interest involving Crawford are those that he would probably lose against the following fighters: David Benavidez, Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev, Jaron Ennis, and Christian Mbilli. I intentionally left out Osleys Iglesias, Lester Martinez, and Bakhram Murtazaliev because those wouldn’t be big fights.
Crawford’s Victim Narrative
“He [Turki Alalshikh] wanted the best for me because he saw how I was getting blackballed. He saw how the system was doing me,” said Terence Crawford to All The Smoke, creating a narrative that he was being kept out of big fights despite being given every opportunity to win world titles at 135, 140, and 147 while being promoted by Top Rank.”
It sounds like Crawford is playing a victim here, taking about being “blackballed” by the system.” How could he have been prevented from being given opportunities when he won world titles in every division he fought in?
Top Rank provided Crawford with nonstop opportunities to fight for world titles and offered him a platform to be seen, with his matches broadcast on ESPN.
“It wasn’t just Top Rank. It was other promoters. ‘Oh, he don’t sell,’” said Crawford.
The Cold Truth About His PPV Numbers
The reality is, Crawford didn’t sell on PPV, other than his fight against Errol Spence. He wasn’t a big ticket seller either. So, if promoters said Crawford “don’t sell,” they were hitting the mark. Terence has never been a big PPV draw, and his fight last year against Israil Madrimov on August 3, 2024, confirmed that with 200,000 buys for a well-promoted, loaded card.
Crawford’s PPV History
- 700,000 Spence Jr. vs. Crawford: July 29, 2023, on Showtime – $59,000,000
- 200,000 Crawford vs. Madrimov: August 3, 2024 on DAZN/ESPN – $16,000,000
- 200,000 Crawford vs. Khan: April 20, 2019, on ESPN – $14,000,000
- 190,000 Crawford vs. Porter: November 20, 2021, on ESPN – $13,298,100
- 120,000 Crawford vs. Avanesyan: December 10, 2022 on BLK Prime – $4,800,000
- 60,000 Crawford vs. Postol: July 23, 2016, on HBO – $3,600,000
Last Updated on 10/05/2025
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