Crawford vs. Khan - Press Conference Set, London on January 15

[smashup]

Crawford will Destroy him

On Friday afternoon, Top Rank - who promote WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford - officially announced a press conference was set down for January 15th in London, to announced a scheduled world title defense against former world champion Amir Khan.

Both Crawford, Khan and Top Rank CEO Bob Arum will be present at the press conference.

As BoxingScene.com first reported, Khan accepted a guarantee of $5 million to face Crawford on April 20th, on ESPN Pay-Per-View.

[powerpuncher]

PPV? Seriously? Blah!

I forget that they try to sell PPV still for garbage fights. It’s a decent fight for Crawford and maybe his best option at the moment, but in no way am I paying for an obvious beat down.

[oakleyno1]

Good fight khan. Respect to him for going after the lagacy fights. Hope he pulls it out and I think it will be closer than many think even khan winning .... Until he gets cracked in the mid rounds 😔

[palmerq]

Five million dollars for khan... that's good for him.... khan is certainly a welterweight, I think he could do well at 154 too, so seeing as Crawford is new to 147 it's a fair test for him.... there's many better options of course but khan has proved he's no mug , I think Crawford will squash him but that's only due to Crawford being really good rather than khan being crap.

[powerpuncher]

Good fight khan. Respect to him for going after the lagacy fights. Hope he pulls it out and I think it will be closer than many think even khan winning .... Until he gets cracked in the mid rounds 😔

Respect him? Why wouldn’t he take this fight for $5 million? He is expected to lose. He has no pressure whatsoever.

[Master]

Terence Crawford v Amir Khan: Briton agrees shot at WBO world welterweight champion

Amir Khan has agreed to face undefeated WBO world welterweight champion Terence Crawford in the US on 20 April.

Khan, 32, returned to boxing last April after 23 months away from the sport and secured two wins in 2018.

The Briton had an offer to face domestic rival Kell Brook in a bout, which his team had said would prove more financially rewarding.

But he will instead be a heavy underdog against 31-year-old Crawford, who has held world titles in three divisions.

A news conference is due to take place early next week to outline a venue, either in New York or Las Vegas. Both are cities in which Khan has boxed before - this time, though, he will go up against an American widely regarded as one of the sport's best pound-for-pound fighters.



Omaha-born Crawford has held world titles at lightweight, super-lightweight and welterweight, and has already been installed as 1-10 favourite with some bookmakers.

More notably, he was an undisputed champion at super-lightweight in 2017 when he overcame Julius Indongo to hold all four world titles in the division.

He moved up to the 147lb welterweight class to take his current title from Australia's Jeff Horn in June, and his most recent stoppage win over Jose Benavidez Jr in October took his record to 25 knockouts from 34 wins.

Khan has faced disapproval in some quarters for his September points win over Samuel Vargas, where he was knocked down before recovering to take his record to 33 wins and four defeats.

And Crawford, who boxes from the tricky southpaw stance, represents a huge step up as Khan bids to become a world champion for a second time having held titles at super-lightweight between 2009 and 2011.



Khan has been criticised for avoiding Brook but has always insisted he hoped to pursue world titles upon returning to the sport and this challenge - albeit fraught with difficulty - offers such a chance.

Negotiations between Khan and Brook had dragged on, with Khan insisting any deal included a rehydration clause that would have prevented his rival from gaining excessive weight following any weigh in.

Khan's move now leaves Brook, 32, without an obvious opponent and undoubtedly disappointed given both he and his team had agreed to demands having pursued the lucrative bout in recent years.

Some have suggested Khan believes a meeting with Brook will still be available to him after he faces Crawford, though Eddie Hearn - who promotes both fighters - has publicly said negotiations had reached a stage where it was "now or never".

Brook will need to look elsewhere. Perhaps tellingly, former light-middleweight world champion Liam Smith raised his name as a potential opponent when he switched to the same promotional team earlier in the week.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/46850643

[p4pking]

Does anyone here think khan vs brook still sells if this fight goes the way most expect? Khan as it is doesn’t have a good win in years. That fight would make mayweather pacquiao look like it should have “marinated” some more. I don’t question khans courage at all, but this move just seems like it’s meant to spite brook as much as anything... Kel looks like he could be on the slide, surely that’s a more winnable fight. Wouldn’t khan have made as much money for it?