Crawford Mocks Ennis’ IBF Title: ‘Everybody’s Cool With Being An E-mail Champion
Terence Crawford has had a slight dig at Jaron Ennis following his status as the new IBF welterweight champion.
Boots was elevated from the interim title after the IBF stripped Crawford for not defending his title against Ennis, who was the mandatory at the time. However, Bud had a legitimate reason for not doing so, given the rematch clause with Errol Spence Jr.
Crawford had stopped the latter in the ninth round to become the first undisputed welterweight champion of the four-belt era. But in doing so, Spence enacted the rematch. Therefore, Crawford was contractually bound to face Spence. And since the fight date and weight class had not been agreed, the IBF acted by stripping the fighter. And now Crawford has had a few choice words to say about it.
Crawford Reacts
“I know it’s not ideal. I know he’s disappointed that he couldn’t win it off a champion and whatnot. I know it’s disappointing. If I was him, I’d rather fight for it. I’d rather fight the number three guy if I couldn’t get the other guy. Don’t send me a belt in the mail. It just seems like everybody’s cool with being an e-mail champion now. I know it’s frustrating that he can’t get those big fights but it’s part of the game,” Crawford said
This is not the first time that this has happened this year. Jermell Charlo was also stripped of his title at 154 pounds, but this time it was by the WBO after he failed to fight against his then-mandatory Tim Tszyu. The WBO acted after the American chose to face Canelo Alvarez instead by jumping up two weight classes to fight the Mexican for his undisputed title at 168. Prior to that, Charlo and Tszyu were on course to face each other, only for the American to pull out with a hand injury. But since the fight did not get rescheduled, the WBO acted much to the frustration of Charlo.
Charlo On Tszyu
“Right now Tim Tszyu is considered a paper champion. If he gets the WBO (belt) and they elevate him, he’s a paper champion. A champion that didn’t have to do anything. A spar champion. I had to knock everybody out for my belts. So if Tszyu is watching, hey, don’t be too high up on your horse because you didn’t do nothing in boxing. Of course I’m going to take a bigger opportunity like Canelo over Tim Ta-Zoo. Who is Tim Ta-Zoo? Australia knows, but not the world of boxing. He’s not a legitimate champion. He fought Ocampo. Who is Ocampo? He didn’t fight dog tough, hard, hard fights,” Charlo stated
Either way, something has to change when it comes to mandatory obligations versus contractual fights. After all, gaining a belt is about beating the best. And until that happens, there will be question marks over the status of some current champions. And there is no getting away from that.
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