Who will Terence Crawford, for many people the best welterweight in the world today, fight next? Fans are seemingly already fully tired of the whole Crawford-Errol Spence, ‘I don’t need you, you need me’ scenario, with Crawford either “ducking” Spence, or Spence “ducking” Crawford; whichever way you think it is. But with no next fight yet confirmed for Crawford – last seen taking out a faded Kell Brook in a fight that was in no way one that had been fan-demanded – maybe “Bud” should fight a young guy who is calling him out.
Virgil Ortiz Jr and Jaron “Boots” Ennis are both calling for a shot at the reigning WBO welterweight champ and pound-for-pound entrant (maybe even P-4-P top dog, this in the opinion of plenty of experts), and if he isn’t going to fight Spence, then why doesn’t Crawford, 37-0(28) fight one of these two young guns? Ortiz Jr looked mighty impressive is beating Maurice Hooker last time out, and the 23 year old called out Crawford after picking up his 17th straight win.
Crawford’s reaction? He said Ortiz Jr doesn’t really want to fight him. But Ortiz Jr has stated again that, well, yeah, he sure does want to fight him. Why isn’t Crawford looking to hype this fight up and go and get it? Has Crawford got anything bigger and better lined up? If he has, we don’t know about it (that Brook is already five months old). If Crawford says he doesn’t need to fight Spence, and he says he doesn’t need to fight Ortiz Jr, then who else IS he looking at fighting?
Ennis, perhaps? Ennis looked superb in stopping Sergey Lipinets on Saturday night, and after the fight, as well as before it, the 23 year old who improved to 27-0(25) with 1 non contest, called out Crawford. What will Crawford’s reaction be to this call-out? Will Crawford tell us all Ennis doesn’t really want to fight him, or will Crawford tell us all he doesn’t need to fight Ennis?
It’s time 33 year old Crawford got himself a big and meaningful fight. If this doesn’t come against an Errol Spence, a Manny Pacquiao (this fight looked quite possible at one point but not to much so now) or a Shawn Porter, then Crawford going up against a young stud like an Ortiz Jr or a “Boots” Ennis seems like the logical thing for the Nebraska man to do.
Or has Crawford got too big for his boots? There was a time when a younger Crawford looked to take on all comers. But today, well, what does Crawford look at as a good fight for him, a suitable fight for him? It seems, with Ortiz Jr and Ennis both calling him out, Crawford has two exciting options, two exciting fights that, if he took one or both of them, would certainly be approved by the fans.
Who would YOU like to see Crawford fight next? Ennis? Ortiz Jr? Or someone else? But if so, who?