By: Sean Crose
Golden Boy Promotions honoree, and Hall of Fame fighter Oscar De La Hoya is working to sign WBO weight champion Terence Crawford to the roster. De La Hoya posted a photo of himself and Crawford, along with Golden Boy Promotion honoree (and fellow Hall of Famer) Bernard Hopkins on Saturday night. De La Hoya then told Chris Mannix that he wanted to see Crawford face off with Alexis Rocha. Furthermore, De La Hoya has made it clear that he likes the idea of having Crawford take on Virgil Ortiz afterwards. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, De La Hoya says he could make his hopes of a fight between Crawford and fellow welterweight Errol Spence come true.
There’s a lot to unload here. First, Crawford hasn’t been able to fight Spence up to this point. Each side blames the other, but the truth is that the highly anticipated match, despite its overdue sale, is something fans want to see. De La Hoya says he can make it happen. However, he did show that he could make it happen AFTER Crawford fought Rocha first, and then Ortiz. The truth is that 35-year-old Crawford is no longer young, neither is 32-year-old Spence. Discussions have dragged on for so long that some fans have decided that a Spence-Crawford fight won’t happen.
Furthermore, there is a new type of weight on the rise. As great as they are, Crawford and Spence are not Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. If they meet too far from their respective primes, it’s less likely that the Spence-Crawford battle will become a major attraction. If Crawford is facing Rocha and Ortiz for the first time, it will be at least over a year before he and Spence enter the ring. On top of that, even though Rocha and Ortiz are both talented, no one appreciates them at Spence level.
On the other hand, Crawford doesn’t have many options at the moment. Having the backing of a large organization like Golden Boy Promotions means that his career has little chance of continuing to stagnate. It also means that the people who really know the details of the negotiations will have his support when it comes time to sit down and discuss a big issue.
It’s certainly an interesting situation.
