Former IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO world welterweight champion Terrence “Bud” Crawford only defended his WBO title once a year for the past four years.
With the exception of heavyweight, all other weight divisions require two title defenses per year, with at least one title defense being against a top contender unless there is a potential unification bout.
Back in 2020, it took Crawford 11 months to defend his title against Kel “Special” Brook in November 2020, going 39-2. He stopped Amir Khan 33-4 and Egidijus Kavalianuskas 21-0-1 in 2019. He won the title in August 2018 by stopping Jeff Horn (18-0-1).
In 2021, Crawford stopped Shawn Porter in his only title defense in Las Vegas, Nevada with a record of 31-3-1. In December 2022, 13 months after defeating Porter, he stopped David Avanesyan 29-3-1 in Omaha, Nebraska.
Crawford's last unification bout in July 2023 saw him stop WBA, WBC and IBF champion Errol The Truth Spence Jr. 28-0. A two-fight deal was scheduled, but Spence said he did not want a rematch and would move to super welterweight.
Crawford moved up to super-middleweight and went on to challenge champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, but Alvarez had no success against challengers at his weight except for trying to move up to light heavyweight again and losing. I chose to defend my title.
In August of this year, Crawford decided to move up to super welterweight and face WBA champion Izrail the Dream Madrimov (10-0-1) in Los Angeles, California, while competing for the vacant interim WBO title. Ta.
Interim IBF champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis, who went 31-0 with 28 stoppages since leaving the welterweight division, was the driving force behind the IBF title.
Ennis has signed Eddie Hearn (Matchom Boxing) and is seen as the most likely replacement for Crawford. Crawford will defend his title on July 13th against No. 1 contender Cody Crowley, who is 22-0 with nine stops.
Hearn offered the new WBA champion a unification fight, but he was turned down. Crowley, who was also the WBC's No. 1 contender, said in his recent press conference, “Ennis was the best in the division, so I agreed to fight him.”
Neither he nor Ennis has fought in a year since July. Hearn wanted a match between Crawford and Ennis, but that fell through as Crawford moved up in weight. He claimed he wanted a fight for a bigger prize, but I don't think this will be the fight.
Crawford was lucky not to be stripped of his title, having only won it once a year for the past four years.
