Terence Crawford evidently feels there is nothing more that he can personally do to cut a deal with Errol Spence Jr. for the undisputed welterweight championship.
 
The undefeated WBO titlist from Omaha, Nebraska, threw his hands up to a recent query from ESPN’s Max Kellerman, on Kellerman’s Max on Boxing show, regarding the Spence fight. Hyping up the fight as the best that can be made in the sport, Kellerman urged Crawford to assure him that the fight will happen eventually.

“Boxing fans are dying to see this tell me that’s it going to happen,” Kellerman said. “Are you really going to let your career go by without making this fight happen?”

Crawford couldn’t help but scoff at the question, saying that if he were to do any more to make the fight happen he would in effect be fighting for free.
 
“Why everybody keep telling me I gotta make the fight happen?” Crawford answered. “What do y’all want me to do? I guess I gotta go there, ‘Hey, listen, I’ll fight for no guarantee, no back end, no nothing, let’s just fight, because that’s what the fans what you to do.’ Like, I’m trying my hardest to make this fight happen. And I just want everyone to know, I am trying. I am trying.”

In the same interview, Crawford stated that he does not believe his legacy will be affected if he never fights Spence, pointing out that he was undisputed champion at 140 pounds and a titlist across three divisions.

Earlier this month, Crawford went on a 20-minute monologue on Instagram to give his side on how negotiations with Spence fell apart, saying that he had exhausted all of his options. Crawford, who stated he was willing to fight without a guarantee, pinned the blame mostly on Spence’s influential advisor, Premier Boxing Champions’ founder Al Haymon, who Crawford said was not willing to be “transparent” on certain financial aspects of the fight.

Crawford is now set to take on David Avanesyan on Dec. 10 in Crawford’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, on BLK Prime, a largely unknown pay-per-view streaming platform. In order for the Spence fight to still be possible next year, not only would Crawford need to defeat Avanesyan, but Spence would need to come out victorious in his next fight as well. The native of Desoto, Texas, is expected to take on PBC stablemate and former titlist Keith Thurman sometime early in 2023.