Promoter Bob Arum, talking with ESPN, has confirmed the date for Terence Crawford’s next fight. The reigning WBO welterweight champ and pound-for-pound entrant will fight again on April 20th but so far this is pretty much all we know – we must wait for official confirmation regarding the opponent and the venue of the fight.
“Crawford’s gonna fight on the 20th of April. Who he’s gonna fight? I know,” Arum said. “It’s being finalised right now, and sometimes in boxing if things are like a little bit away from a signature it blows up if you open your mouth. So I’m not gonna open my mouth, but it’ll be a very, very interesting fight.”
The frontrunner to land the fight is of course British star Amir Khan. It’s no secret Khan, a former 140 pound champ, was offered the fight a while back, but there has been no word on whether or not Khan accepted the fight deal he was presented with. Khan of course has that big domestic clash with Kell Brook being dangled in front of him. But if it’s not Khan, then who might Crawford, 34-0(25) face in making the second defence of the WBO belt he won by stopping Jeff Horn last June?
Initially, Crawford was announced as fighting the faded Luis Collazo in his second title defence but this mismatch thankfully went away. From what Arum has said it sure sounds as though it will be Khan on April 20, and that all that is needed to be able to formally announce the fight is Khan’s signature on the contract. Of course anything is possible and we could get a surprise of a fight announcement instead, but it will be no shock at all if it is Crawford-Khan in April.
Has Khan any shot at derailing the unbeaten 31 year old who is right around his peak? Khan does have that dazzling hand speed and, Yuriorkis Gamboa aside (who did trouble Crawford in the earlier going of that excellent 135 pound title fight from the summer of 2014 before Crawford size advantages took their toll), Khan could be the fastest opponent yet in Crawford’s pro career.
Of course Crawford will be the big, big favourite if he does fight Khan, but as Arum says, it’s an interesting fight (assuming this is the fight the Top Rank boss was referring to).
