So much for a showdown between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr., at least for now.
ESPN is reporting that Crawford will defend his WBO welterweight title against contender David Avanesyan on pay-per-view Dec. 10 at CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, Crawford’s hometown.
Crawford has been in talks to face Errol Spence Jr. for the undisputed 147-pound championship, originally targeting next month for their meeting. However, they have yet to come to terms, which evidently motivated him to take the Avanesyan fight.
It would be his only fight this year.
Crawford and Spence are now targeting the first quarter of next year for their showdown, according to ESPN.
“I’m excited about this opportunity,” Crawford told ESPN. “I was really looking forward to the Errol Spence fight. I started communicating with Al Haymon (Spence’s manager) and PBC back in June. And unfortunately, they represent a fighter in Errol Spence who didn’t want the fight as bad as I did.
“I agreed to all of their [B.S.] and they’ve been dragging their ass for months. Spence was nowhere to be found while I was trying to make the deal, I explained to Al Haymon and Errol that I was going to fight before the end of the year. …
“David Avanesyan is a very tough task. He’s knocked out his last six opponents and this guy is dangerous. Once I’m successful against Avanesyan, my plan is still the same: Whoop Errol Spence’s ass.”
Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs) is coming off the biggest victory of his career, a 10th-round knockout of Shawn Porter in last November. He’s No. 1 on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list.
Avanesyan (29-3-1, 17 KOs) bounced back from a knockout loss to Egidijus Kavaliauskas to score the six consecutive knockouts Crawford mentioned. The England-based Russian is 34, one year younger than Crawford.
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