By Scott Christ
Jan 11, 2022
Source: Bad Left Hook
Photo: Mikey Williams
PBC executive: Terence Crawford vs Errol Spence Jr hasn’t happened because the money isn’t there, Crawford hasn’t been built as PPV star.
PBC’s Tim Smith believes it’s simple economics as to why we have yet to see Terence Crawford fight Errol Spence Jr. Tim Smith, Vice President of Communications for Haymon Boxing and PBC, appeared on the PBC Podcast to discuss a variety of topics, most notably his thoughts on why Terence Crawford vs Errol Spence Jr hasn’t happened yet, and what could be next for Deontay Wilder.
On Errol Spence Jr vs Yordenis Ugas coming in April “I think it’s a great match. Ugas is an undervalued commodity in the welterweight division, and you can make an argument that Ugas handled Shawn Porter with a lot more ease and lost the fight than Shawn was handled in some of his other matches and everything. I think it’s a tremendous fight. If that happens, you gotta give Errol Spence credit for stepping up. The guy is not taking on easy challenges despite the physical problems that he has encountered (with) the car accident and the detached retina.”
“There’s enough mystery around how far Errol has come from his various injuries and ailments and stuff, and there’s enough intrigue around Ugas as to just how good is this guy. He made Manny Pacquiao retire, so I think it’s a tremendous fight. And you’re gonna get a unified champion out there, and there’s just one belt that’s missing.”
On why Terence Crawford vs Errol Spence Jr hasn’t happened
“Economics. And you don’t really want to insult a guy like Terence Crawford, who’s a tremendous talent, and I’m not taking away anything from his talent. But he hasn’t been built into a pay-per-view star. I’m not saying that to throw shade at the guy, but you gotta go on his track record, on what he’s done in the pay-per-view fights he’s been involved in. It’s not my job to tell anybody how to make him a pay-per-view star. We have enough work on our hands dealing with trying to make our own guys into pay-per-view stars, but he just hasn’t been built.
Trust me, if there is money in him fighting Errol Spence where he can get what he wants and Errol can get what he wants, that fight would get made. You don’t want to insult the guy and make him an offer that’s insulting. Nobody wants to do that. He’s a proud champion and you don’t want to do that to him. But from a business standpoint, it’s a fight that might excite the fans, and all these people that are out there yelling about pay-per-view, they’re not buying it anyway. They’re not gonna plop down any money to make it successful. They’re going to steal the fight, and the numbers won’t be enough to get him what he wants. I don’t know what that number is, but I would think that that number would be very high. I’m not involved in those talks, but that’s just looking at the sport historically, and I don’t think he should be insulted.”
On what’s next for Deontay Wilder “He’s got a big heart, man. When you look at the heavyweight division, it screams for excitement, it screams for somebody that’s gonna bring a thrill to the ring, the high-wire act, and that’s Deontay. There’s still great fights out there for Deontay. There’s Andy Ruiz, there’s (Anthony) Joshua, there’s (Oleksandr Usyk).
“When you look at the heavyweight division, you gotta put him in the top four, top five. Just his electrifying ability to knock people out. And he’s a gate attraction. God bless Tyson Fury, but nobody’s coming to see Tyson Fury as a gate attraction unless he’s fighting Deontay Wilder. No one. Maybe in England if he fights Anthony Joshua, maybe if he fights Usyk over there. But in America, who’s coming to see Tyson Fury fight anyone other than Deontay Wilder?” “He’s still viable. It’s up to him to determine when he wants to come back. It was a brutal fight and he really needs to take some time off and recharge his batteries. ... I think there are at least three viable fights out there for him if he decides to come back, and they’re all going to be pay-per-view, big money fights. ... I think he wants to get back in the ring in a big fight and big promotion and do his thing. We’ll see what he does.”
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