Bevy of belts should boost boxer Terence Crawford’s pound-for-pound standing
The obligatory talks surrounding Saturday night’s bout focused on Terence Crawford’s plan to defeat mutual two-belt 140-pound champion Julius Indongo and become the division’s unified champion. But the real discussions began after the pleasantries ended.
First, Crawford trainer Brian McIntyre wondered who would be favored if Crawford (31-0, 22 knockouts) were to fight 40-year-old Floyd Mayweather Jr.
“Don’t you dare utter ‘Mayweather,’ ” Crawford said, flashing a knowing grin.
When it was noted that pure talent can be overruled by popularity, as oddsmakers set a line, Crawford nodded reluctantly and agreed. “Mayweather’s got a lot of fans.”
But Crawford, from Nebraska, thinks he deserves a greater following, and a new television deal with ESPN — put in place by his promoter, Top Rank — should bolster that cause Saturday with a 7 p.m. Pacific card from Lincoln, Neb., headlined by Crawford-Indongo.
Namibia’s Indongo, an extremely fit 5-foot-10 fighter who whips his punches, may be a more difficult test for Crawford, who is effectively one victory away from cleaning out his division and readying for a move to welterweight, where a slew of big-name foes await.
The day’s second hot topic focused on who the current No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter is.
Crawford, a consensus top-five occupant in most lists, opined that Canelo Alvarez will defeat unbeaten three-belt middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin on Sept. 16 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas “because he’s fought better guys, name fighters.”
“You’ve seen what [Miguel] Cotto did to Floyd [in 2012],” Crawford said in noting Alvarez’s clear 2015 victory over Cotto, the four-division world champion from Puerto Rico.
Crawford previously questioned the caliber of foes that Ukrainian Vasyl Lomachenko has confronted, hours before the super-featherweight champion dismantled three-time title challenger Miguel Marriaga at L.A. Live on Aug. 5.
The problem for Crawford is that he, too, needs a better résumé and a better script to inspire more universal interest in his career.
In the past, he has come across as disinterested during interviews with national boxing reporters who likely would promote his story and skills.
“I don’t worry about none of that stuff. All I care about is fighting,” Crawford said. “I really don’t care about the pound-for-pound list. I just care about winning.”
It was noted that Manny Pacquiao’s loss to Australia’s Jeff Horn in July deprived Crawford of a passing-of-the-torch type of victory over the former seven-division world champion.
“I don’t even want to fight Pacquiao now because Pacquiao fought Jessie Vargas, Chris Algieri, Jeff Horn. … They were talking that Terence Crawford wasn’t a worthy enough name for Pacquiao,” Crawford said. “Why are those guys worthy when a fight with me and him would’ve been bigger than any of those?”
For now, Crawford’s concern is moving past Indongo (22-0), a fighter he barely knew of a year ago but has now come to realize “how confident he is in his ability.”
Victory will give Crawford six belts, including the Ring Magazine division-champion belt.
“This is what we do it for — to be considered the best in the division, the best in the world,” Crawford said. “All of the fighters [Indongo] fought … none of them amount to me.”
Crawford balked at discussing future bouts or whether he’ll move to welterweight, where unbeaten champions Keith Thurman and Errol Spence Jr. await, along with the Horn-Pacquiao II winner, Danny Garcia and Amir Khan.
“I’ll probably move up, but we don’t know what’s next. After this fight, I think I should be [pound-for-pound] No. 1 over [three-belt light-heavyweight champion] Andre Ward,” Crawford said.
Still, Crawford will earn far less than debut boxer Conor McGregor, who talked himself up and landed the Mayweather fight on Aug. 26.
Crawford said he won’t watch the pay-per-view bout, but added that it doesn’t bother him to see McGregor collect a possible $100 million-plus purse.
“Not at all,” he said. “It has nothing to do with me. Floyd has already said he won’t fight any young boxers with talent.
“Floyd’s smart.”
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