Errol Spence Jr.’s trainer, Derrick James, said what fans didn’t want to hear: The money isn’t there for a showdown between Spence and Terence Crawford, at least not yet.
One reason is that exorbitant pay-per-view fees aren’t tenable in the current economic climate, which might limit the amount of money promoters are able to generate even for such a compelling matchup.
Spence and Crawford probably will demand eight-figure paydays.
“The money for the fight, from my perspective, is not there yet,” James told BoxingScene.com. “Promoters can put whatever they put up, but they’re in the business of making money. And if the money’s not there, especially anytime soon with this coronavirus crisis and most people who buy these fights are not working right now, this will be something that happens down the line.
“It just pushed the fight back a little bit further, I think. But the money’s not there right now. My perspective is the numbers aren’t there, so we’ll see.”
For the time being, both fighters have other prospective opponents in mind.
Spence, who says he has recovered from his horrific single-car accident in October, is targeting Manny Pacquiao (who isn’t?) or Danny Garcia for the fall. Kell Brook, who Spence stopped in 2017, reportedly is first in line to face Crawford next.
Of course, fans will be tune in no matter who Spence and Crawford fight. However, they’ll never stop clamoring for the two unbeaten titleholders to share the same ring until it happens. Spence and Crawford themselves have said repeatedly that they want the fight.
That fact isn’t lost on James.
“I hope that it happens,” he said. “I want for [Spence] what he wants for himself. If Crawford keeps winning – and I don’t think Kell Brook is better than the last guy he fought [Egidijus Kavaliauskas] – so if he keeps winning and he keeps doing what he’s doing, and Errol keeps winning, we’ll see.
“It could be possible. I believe that it will happen eventually, but who knows?”