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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Sport
Alex Pattle

Terence Crawford vs David Avanesyan is a fight ‘no one wants to see’, says Eddie Hearn

Getty Images

Eddie Hearn has dismissed Terence Crawford vs David Avanesyan as a fight ‘no one wants to see’, as the long wait for a clash between Crawford and Errol Spence Jr goes on.

A welterweight title fight between unbeaten Americans Crawford and Spence Jr is one of the most desired in all of boxing, and it looked to be on course to take place before the end of the year.

However, negotiations fell through, and it was announced last week that Crawford will take on Russian-American Avanesyan in December.

“Sooner or later Crawford has to fight, he’s been out for a long time,” Hearn told Fight Hub TV.

“It’s obviously disappointing for boxing. Crawford vs Avanesyan is a fight no one wants to see, but somehow [Crawford] is getting paid a lot of money. So, good luck to him.

“I’ve been there before, trying to make big fights that haven’t been possible to make, and honestly they haven’t been my fault – maybe some – so there has to be a reason why [Spence vs Crawford] didn’t get made.

“I don’t know the reasons. Sometimes the fighters’ expectancy of how much money they should make in a fight is not real life. And the problem with Spence vs Crawford is, and I said it for a long time: To us, to people in boxing, it’s a massive fight, but to the general world, it’s not as big as you think it is.

Errol Spence Jr collected another welterweight belt in April (Getty Images)

“So therefore, the money these guys want isn’t necessarily achievable. And if it was achievable, trust me, the fight would get made. The problem here is: Crawford says, ‘I want X,’ Spence says ‘I want X,’ and the promoters look at the money and go, ‘We can’t do this fight without losing money, and we’re not prepared to lose money.’”

Crawford last fought in November 2021, stopping Shawn Porter in the 10th round to retain the WBO welterweight title.

Meanwhile, Spence Jr most recently competed in April, earning a TKO victory over Yordenis Ugas in Round 10 to stay WBA, WBC and IBF welterweight champion.

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