Why is Terence Crawford going under the radar despite his considerable talent? There might be a number of reasons, but the only way is up.
It’s a rare thing, indeed, to see a champion like Omaha’s Terence Crawford.
Most likely the odds on favorite to be boxing’s next undisputed champion in any class, it’s spectacular in of itself to see such talent go virtually unnoticed by even some fanatical boxing enthusiasts.
This past weekend we saw an excellent welterweight battle between Errol Spence Jr and Kell Brook. A division already rupturing with talent could see yet another fighter punching his way into glory with Crawford’s impending arrival.
Well what exactly does unnoticed mean?
Well, an undefeated and reigning champion, who has defeated two Olympic gold medallists, and just a fight away from becoming undisputed junior welterweight champion doesn’t sell out all of Madison Square Garden even?
This is no slight against Terence Crawford.
His fights have been dominant, yet entertaining. Hard-hitting, swift and switching between southpaw and orthodox stances, winning 22 of his 31 fights by stoppage, this is a style that can be only described as crowd pleasing.
Maybe we are all underestimating Bob Arum of Top Rank, slowly and meticulously building Crawford’s public persona.
It was certainly a great move for last week’s fight against Felix Diaz (19-2 9KO) where fans could see an amazing card, from the lower half of the arena only and no bad seat in the house, with tickets being as cheap as $35.
In the “Mecca of Boxing” in New York City, no less, where most casual fans choose to sit at home then pay the usually much higher premiums for being present live for a championship bout.
It just seems perplexing that someone with Crawford’s talent doesn’t sell out the entire Garden by now. His pay-per-view debut against Viktor Postol (28-1 12KO) drew only 50,000 buys from HBO.
However, a silver lining from HBO last week indicated that his fight against Diaz on “World Championship Boxing” was the highest rated fight on the network for 2017 averaging 961,000 viewers, peaking at 1.036 million.
“Bud,” Crawford’s nickname, by nature is very mild-mannered and soft-spoken according to those who have interviewed him.
A pleasant individual albeit a little difficult media-wise, it would seem the Crawford camp has planned to walk the path silently, gathering victories and championships along the way.
If things go according to plan, a unification fight with WBA, IBO, and IBF champion Julius Indongo (22-0 11KO) could happen and if victorious.
A showdown with Manny Pacquiao (59-6-2 38KO) , lineal and WBO welterweight champion could be just what launches Crawford to superstar status.
One thing for certain; if no one can even remotely challenge Crawford in the ring, he will have nowhere to go but up.
