Fresh off their kickoff press conference in London, WBO welterweight world champion Terence “Bud” Crawford and Amir “King” Khan flew across the pond for a special press conference at ESPN’s South Street Seaport studios in lower Manhattan.
Crawford and Khan will battle on Saturday, April 20, live on the inaugural Top Rank on ESPN pay-per-view at 9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT. Details on how fans will be able to access the pay-per-view event will be announced at a later date.
On stop two of the Crawford-Khan cross-continental media tour, this is what the fighters and Top Rank chairman Bob Arum had to say.
Terence Crawford
“Amir Khan has been in there with a lot of great fighters. Me beating him will put me on another level in the welterweight division. People are interested in seeing this fight.”
“It don’t matter how I win. I just want to win. That still won’t get the fighters I want to fight in the ring with me. I just need to keep doing what I’m doing.”
“There’s no animosity between me and Amir. He respects me. I respect him. We’ll do our thing in the ring on April 20, and we’ll shake hands when it’s over.”
“I’m expecting the best Amir Khan to show up. I never take any shortcuts in training camp. I’m always training for the best fighter that {my opponent} can be. I never look at it like, ‘Oh, he’s some half Amir Khan, or he’s washed up.’ We’re going to train for the best Amir Khan.”
Amir Khan
On why he signed to fight Crawford
“First of all, it was because it was for a world title. Also, Terence is up there as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. This is a fight that could take me to a different level, and I want to win this fight because I want to be the best in the world. All them dreams I’ve had of being the best ever, and one day being that pound-for-pound champion, this is the fight that can take me there.”
“I’ve been reading a lot of things and hearing a lot of things with people saying that I’m taking this fight just to get beat or maybe just to have another world title fight. It isn’t about that. I’m coming here to win. I’ve never gone into a fight just to make numbers. I’ve made a lot of money in the game, and I could leave the sport happy. But I still have unfinished business. I still have a lot left in me to win them titles. Maybe my last fight wasn’t the best fight. Maybe that’s one of the reasons that got me this fight. I will prove myself. Going into this fight, I’m highly motivated. Terence is a great champion. I’m not going to walk into the ring just to get beat. I’m coming to win this fight. I don’t have that much pressure in this fight because people are expecting me to get beat. I’m going to come and shock the world.”
“This is a fight that can redeem my whole career. Against Canelo, maybe I was biting off more than I could chew. I took that fight because it was a massive opportunity for me, and I believe in myself as a fighter. This fight, I see that it’s more fair. We’re similar weights. We’ve had similar experience. In my opinion, I’ll be able to take his punching power. He’s also a quick and a skillful fighter, so there’s a lot of advantages for me in this fight. In other fights, I’ve fought guys who are a lot stronger, a lot bigger in weight. That plays a big part. In this fight, I really think I have the style and everything it takes to win.”
Bob Arum
“The idea is to make the best possible fight. We’ve been Terence’s promoter for many, many years. He’s at a stage now where, to cement his legacy, he has to fight the best. And I’ve always been a big fan of Amir Khan. I remember Amir Khan when he was an amateur and what great skills he has and had. It will be a real test for Bud Crawford to fight Amir Khan. I really think Amir has been one of the best welterweights around. And I think it’s going to be a great, great fight on April 20.”
“Terence Crawford, should he win the fight April 20, he will fight the best available welterweights in the world. It’s the world. There are tremendously gifted fighters. There’s this kid in Spain that’s the biggest attraction Spanish boxing ever had called {Kerman Lejarraga}. And he’s a terrific fighter. There’s the Eastern Europeans. There’s a lot of good welterweights. If there are fighters fighting for another promoter, and the other promoter is digging his heels in and won’t give his fighters the opportunity to be on a big stage, it’s on them. I can’t be worried about it.”
