Source - Terence Crawford's WBO welterweight title defense against Amir Khan has been confirmed, with the duo set to face off April 20 in the United States.
The date for the contest officially was announced Tuesday with the two boxers at a news conference in London. The fight is expected to be in New York or Las Vegas, but that detail has yet to be firmed up.
Wherever it is, it promises to be "one hell of a fight," Khan said Tuesday.
A three-division world champion unbeaten in 34 bouts, Crawford is rated among the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world.
Yet Khan (33-4), who recorded wins over Phil Lo Greco and Samuel Vargas in 2018 after a near two-year hiatus, insists he can spring an upset against the American.
"Crawford is beatable. I want that WBO world title. It's going to be one hell of a fight," said Khan, who went on to explain why he will not yet face fellow Briton Kell Brook — a man he has called out on numerous occasions.
After knocking out Jeff Horn to claim the WBO strap last June, Crawford dominated Jose Benavidez in a successful first defense in October and will undoubtedly start as a heavy favorite against Khan.
"I'll be looking to go out there to seek and destroy," Crawford said. "I'm excited about this fight because I believe it can push my career to another level."
It's official. After the backlash surrounding the rumors that Crawford was going to fight Luis Collazo - a past his prime 37 year old former contender - he made the switch official and booked a fight with Amir Khan - a past his prime British former contender. Can't really knock either fighter here.
Would it be nice to see one of the best pound for pound boxers in the entire world prove it against the fiercest competition welterweight has to offer? Yes, yes it would. But Terence Crawford fights for Top Rank and fights on ESPN, which means the Showtime and Fox guys are out of the question for him. That's right...No Errol Spence. No Keith Thurman. No Danny Garcia. No Shawn Porter. No Charlo brothers, nothing. None of those dudes are coming over to fight Crawford on ESPN which means those fights straight up ain't happening and there really isn't anything he can do about it. He found a guy who is a step up in competition, albeit a small one, and a guy who provides a much bigger name to use to build the fight. It makes sense.
As for Khan, I really wanted to see the Kell Brook fight happen. People thought the buildup for Mayweather-Pacquiao was bad? Kell Brook and Amir Khan have been claiming they will fight each other "next year" since fucking 2011. At this point both have seen better days and aren't anywhere close to the fighters they once were. Brook just offered up a very underwhelming performance against Michael Zerafa where he looked slow and his timing was off all night. Khan much the same against Samuel Vargas, a match in which he was knocked down which at this point is pretty much a guarantee in an Amir Khan fight.
Brook had his eye socket shattered by GGG, only to get it fixed then come back and have it shattered again by Errol Spence. Khan got knocked to within a couple inches of death itself versus Canelo. The two are eerily similar in a lot of regards, and the bad blood has existed and persisted for a decade. But Khan wanted the title shot and a chance at one of the pound for pound best. Can't really knock a guy for daring to be great. Plus at the end of the day speed kills and Khan has that in spades. The big issue isn't his skill or his speed, it's that Khan has a massive tendency to expose himself to big shots and he gets smokes at least a couple of times a fight, which is going to be a huge problem against an animal like Bud Crawford.
The funny thing is Khan keeps saying, "The Brook fight will always be there," and at this point I can't even argue with him. He's been doing this runaround for years and here I am, still wondering and waiting to see if maybe once Khan fights Crawford then maybe, just maybe he will finally get around to fighting Kell Brook.
**Fast Forward to December 2019**
"Listen, I want the Kell Brook fight. Of course I want the Kell Brook fight, but there's bigger fights. And the Brook fight will still be there in 2020. Definitely, we'll do the Brook fight in 2020."
-Amir Khan
Khan-Crawford 4/20. Should be average.
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) January 15, 2019
Bonus Canelo KO on Khan. So brutal.
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