Terence Crawford, left, will put his welterweight title on the line vs. Amir Khan. (Photo by Sarah... [+]
After Vasiliy Lomachenko took care of Anthony Crolla in dominating fashion last week, the other boxer who many consider to be the best in the world gets his chance to wow boxing fans. That’d be big-time betting favorite Terence Crawford, who faces a fascinating test in Amir Khan on ESPN PPV that begins at 9 p.m. ET.
Lomachenko was impressive. Now, it’s Crawford’s turn to match him.
“The Crawford-Khan showdown is a very interesting matchup of two elite fighters,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. “Khan, when fighting at welterweight, is as good as there is, but he is fighting the division’s best fighter and a pound-for-pound great. It will be an entertaining and competitive fight.”
There are plenty of reasons to watch Crawford—who is a -1600 favorite, meaning you’d have to bet $1,600 to win a measly $100—face Khan. Here are three of them.
1) You should never pass up a chance to watch Crawford: Though he’s a genial, laid-back personality outside of the ring, Crawford (34-0, 25 KOs) can be downright mean when he begins to fight. And he seems to get better each time he steps between the ropes. After dominating the junior welterweight division, knocking out Julius Indongo in 2017 to become the undisputed champion, Crawford’s ascent to welterweight has gone well. He stopped Jeff Horn and Jose Benavidez Jr., and it wouldn’t be a shock to see him knock out Khan. “I am on a high level right now, and the way I beat people makes it seem like they don't belong in the ring with me,” Crawford said. “Against Khan, I will show everyone again why I'm the best fighter in the world.”
2) Khan is determined to score the biggest victory of his career: Though he’s certainly had some good wins in his career—notably against Marco Antonio Barrera and Marcos Maidana—he’s also been blasted by the top opponents he’s faced. Khan (33-4, 20 KOs) got brutally knocked out by Canelo Alvarez at 154 pounds and stopped by Danny Garcia at 140. Crawford is just as good, if not better, than both of those opponents. Though there have always been rampant questions about the quality of Khan’s chin, he thinks he can be a tough opponent for Crawford. “I'm not going to be giving all that weight away when I fight Crawford,” he said. “When I fought Canelo, he was a much bigger man. This is a fairer fight in terms of weight. I am confident I can win this fight because he has never fought anyone like me. I have power, speed, and movement, and he has certainly never fought a welterweight like me. I've grown into my weight. I'm not just another number on Crawford's record.”
3) Will Crawford get the chance at the biggest money fight of all?: Originally, Crawford was supposed to fight Luis Collazo. Instead, we get Khan, which is certainly an upgrade. But people really want to see Crawford fight Errol Spence. It’s a tough fight to negotiate because Spence fights for Premier Boxing Champions and Crawford competes for Top Rank. Neither promoter is all that fond of the other. But at some point, fans might demand to see Crawford vs. Spence. First, though, Crawford has to beat Khan. “If Crawford is talking about maybe that fight happening and overlooking me,” Khan said, “it’s going to be a big shock.”
Jarrell Miller has lost his chance to face Anthony Joshua. (Photo by John Walton/PA Images via Getty... [+]
The loss of “Big Baby” riches: With Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller testing positive for multiple substances in multiple different drug tests, his chances of facing Anthony Joshua are over for now. And it’s going to cost him a bunch of money.
As reported by ESPN, Miller—who was supposed to meet Joshua for the heavyweight championship in June—would have made a career-high guarantee of $4.875 million with more money to be earned on the backside after the Sky Sports PPV receipts in the U.K. were tallied (the fight would have been televised by DAZN in the U.S.). Others estimate that Miller will end up losing about $6.5 million total without the Joshua fight.
Meanwhile, assuming he lost to Joshua (Miller was a +650 underdog), Miller would have earned a combined $3 million for his next two fights on DAZN. His biggest purse before the Joshua fight was an estimated $500,000 vs. Bogdan Dinu last November.
