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http://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/...d-ibf-version-junior-welterweight-world-title
Terence Crawford's run as the undisputed junior welterweight world champion did not last long. Only 11 days, to be exact.
With a purse bid looming for a mandatory defense against Sergey Lipinets on Thursday, Crawford on Wednesday vacated the IBF version of the 140-pound world title knowing that making the fight with Lipinets under the organization's time frame was not possible.
"On behalf of Top Rank and Terence Crawford we would like to thank you and the IBF for allowing Terence to participate in the historic four-title unification bout on August 19. As always it was a pleasure working with the IBF," Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti wrote to IBF president Daryl Peoples to inform him of Crawford's decision to vacate the belt. "It had been a lifelong dream of Terence's to win an IBF world championship and to be recognized as undisputed, unified world champion.
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"Top Rank and Terence realize that the IBF is in a complicated situation with respect to the mandatory defense for the title, given prior exemptions leading into the August 19 bout. Unfortunately, the timing of the purse bid and the mandatory defense do not permit Terence and Top Rank sufficient time to consider the next step in his career. In light of that, and wanting to spare the IBF unnecessary and prolonged procedural steps, Terence respectfully relinquishes his IBF title. Thank you once again for the opportunity and we look forward continuing our relationship in future endeavors."
Terence Crawford, right, during his bout on Aug. 19 against Julius Indongo. Crawford knocked Indongo out in the third round. Photo provided by Mikey Williams/Top Rank
In a sensational performance on ESPN on Aug. 19 at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska, about an hour from Crawford's hometown of Omaha, Crawford knocked out Julius Indongo, of Namibia, with a body shot in the third round to add Indongo's two world title belts to his own two and to become only the third fighter of the four-belt era to unify them all. The other two were middleweight champions Bernard Hopkins, who unified against Oscar De La Hoya in 2004, and Jermain Taylor, who won them all from Hopkins in 2005.
After the fight, Crawford said he probably would move up in weight to the welterweight division anyway, where next year he could eventually face the winner of the likely rematch between titleholder Jeff Horn and Manny Pacquiao. Staying at junior welterweight for a low-profile fight with Lipinets was never part of Crawford's or Top Rank's plan.
Indongo had petitioned the IBF for an exception to the mandatory defense against Lipinets in order to face Crawford (32-0, 23 KOs), 29, and the organization was not going to allow another exception and again delay Lipinets' title opportunity.
Lipinets (12-0, 10 KOs), 28, a native of Kazakhstan fighting out of Los Angeles, knocked out Lenny Zappavigna in the eighth-round of a title elimination fight to become the IBF-designated mandatory challenger in December. He likely will be ordered to face the IBF's next-ranked contender, Akihiro Kondo (29-6-1, 16 KOs), 32, of Japan, who has won eight fights in a row but has never beaten a top opponent.
Terence Crawford's run as the undisputed junior welterweight world champion did not last long. Only 11 days, to be exact.
With a purse bid looming for a mandatory defense against Sergey Lipinets on Thursday, Crawford on Wednesday vacated the IBF version of the 140-pound world title knowing that making the fight with Lipinets under the organization's time frame was not possible.
"On behalf of Top Rank and Terence Crawford we would like to thank you and the IBF for allowing Terence to participate in the historic four-title unification bout on August 19. As always it was a pleasure working with the IBF," Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti wrote to IBF president Daryl Peoples to inform him of Crawford's decision to vacate the belt. "It had been a lifelong dream of Terence's to win an IBF world championship and to be recognized as undisputed, unified world champion.
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"Top Rank and Terence realize that the IBF is in a complicated situation with respect to the mandatory defense for the title, given prior exemptions leading into the August 19 bout. Unfortunately, the timing of the purse bid and the mandatory defense do not permit Terence and Top Rank sufficient time to consider the next step in his career. In light of that, and wanting to spare the IBF unnecessary and prolonged procedural steps, Terence respectfully relinquishes his IBF title. Thank you once again for the opportunity and we look forward continuing our relationship in future endeavors."
Terence Crawford, right, during his bout on Aug. 19 against Julius Indongo. Crawford knocked Indongo out in the third round. Photo provided by Mikey Williams/Top Rank
In a sensational performance on ESPN on Aug. 19 at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska, about an hour from Crawford's hometown of Omaha, Crawford knocked out Julius Indongo, of Namibia, with a body shot in the third round to add Indongo's two world title belts to his own two and to become only the third fighter of the four-belt era to unify them all. The other two were middleweight champions Bernard Hopkins, who unified against Oscar De La Hoya in 2004, and Jermain Taylor, who won them all from Hopkins in 2005.
After the fight, Crawford said he probably would move up in weight to the welterweight division anyway, where next year he could eventually face the winner of the likely rematch between titleholder Jeff Horn and Manny Pacquiao. Staying at junior welterweight for a low-profile fight with Lipinets was never part of Crawford's or Top Rank's plan.
Indongo had petitioned the IBF for an exception to the mandatory defense against Lipinets in order to face Crawford (32-0, 23 KOs), 29, and the organization was not going to allow another exception and again delay Lipinets' title opportunity.
Lipinets (12-0, 10 KOs), 28, a native of Kazakhstan fighting out of Los Angeles, knocked out Lenny Zappavigna in the eighth-round of a title elimination fight to become the IBF-designated mandatory challenger in December. He likely will be ordered to face the IBF's next-ranked contender, Akihiro Kondo (29-6-1, 16 KOs), 32, of Japan, who has won eight fights in a row but has never beaten a top opponent.
You are probably right, and if so that would only be because there are FAR more world titles around now, WBA (super), WBA (regular), WBC, WBO, IBF, IBO (cringe), even Ricky Hatton Hatton was WBU when the WBU tried to get a look in, 'champ in recess', WBC Diamond belt lol... If all these titles were around all them years ago he probably wouldnt of imo thats for sure... Fck, could you imagine if there was still only ONE world champ in each division like there used to be??? And not as many weight classes and catch weights etc???
Think of how it took Jake LaMotta to *allegedly* take his one and only dive against Billy Fox to get a chance to win his title... Think how long it took Archie Moore to win his title... Even Sugar Ray Robinson the real GOAT (imo) had to wait ages *allegedly* because he wouldnt play ball with The Mob... But if there were as many titles around then as there were today, then Im certain champs would be facing champs left right and centre UNLIKE today...
So how could he fight more world Champs then everyone else, if he only fought WBC fighters, Floyd also unified divisions though??? Im not knocking Floyd, he was a great fighter up there with the best... Its a different era though, its alot easier for fighters to move through weights etc and just because a bout is only sanctioned by the WBC, doesnt mean he wasnt fighting ex WBA (regular) champs (who I dont even consider the proper world champion) WBA (Super) champs who I consider the REAL champs of that organisations and other ex champs from various organisation like the WBO, IBF etc
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https://theundefeated.com/features/...y-is-how-he-managed-his-own-career-and-money/
BY WILLIAM C. RHODEN @WCRHODEN
August 28, 2017
Had you asked me to define Floyd Mayweather’s boxing legacy before Saturday’s fight against Conor McGregor, I would have been at a loss.
If this was indeed his swan song, Mayweather will be remembered as a skillful, though not particularly compelling, defensive fighter with a flair for selling the undramatic.
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But after spending an afternoon last week with International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr., I realized that for a generation of young black boxers, Mayweather’s importance, if not his legacy, is what he’s done outside the ring in the business of boxing. He has shown a generation of boxers how to be the carpenter and not the tool.
In an industry that historically exploits fighters, especially black ones, Mayweather has changed the paradigm. Mayweather reportedly will earn more than $100 million from Saturday’s exhibition. McGregor is expected to take around $30 million, nearly three times more than his largest payday as an MMA champion.
Mayweather’s expected payday adds to the fortune that has made Mayweather one of the richest, perhaps the richest, fighter in boxing history.
Mayweather and McGregor — and the BIG3 — win big in Las Vegas
“Floyd’s broken barriers,” Spence told me over lunch Aug. 25 in Las Vegas. “It’s unheard of for a boxer to promote himself, especially a black boxer, to basically manage himself and control the pot. To control who’s getting this, who’s getting that, and dictating his terms.
“I see that. I see him promoting himself. I see how he’s handling his business and being his own boss, not letting the suits dictate what he does. That’s why a lot of promoters and managers don’t like Al and Floyd.”
He was referring to manager Al Haymon. Spence has not signed with a promoter and has hired Haymon as an adviser.
Mayweather has been immensely successful in the business of boxing. He has shown an upcoming generation of young boxers how they can be much more independent, how they can throw off the traditional yoke of promoters and managers.
“Now boxers are starting to think things like, ‘I should be getting the lion’s share; I’m the fighter,’ ” Spence said. “They’re telling promoters, ‘I should be getting more of the money; you should be getting a smaller percentage. Why are you getting the gate? I’m the one selling out.’
“So now fighters are thinking. Everybody’s waking up now.”
Last May, Spence, 22-0, defeated Kell Brook in Brook’s hometown of Sheffield, England, to win the IBF title. That made Spence, 27, a top welterweight contender. The fighters who stand in his path to the mountaintop are Keith Thurman and Terence Crawford.
If Spence defeats Thurman, the reigning World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council titleholder, then Crawford, he will move closer to the Mayweather model of greater freedom to call his own shots.
“He’s the master of his own show now,” Spence said, referring to Mayweather. “He’s dictating everything, and they hate that. The suits hate that. They hate seeing a black boxer like Floyd Mayweather run the show.”
Spence was born on Long Island, New York, raised in Dallas and played football until he was 15. His father made him switch to boxing heading into his sophomore year of high school. He thought his son had too much idle time on his hands, so he took him to a local boxing gym. “I don’t how he picked a boxing gym, out of all the extracurriculum activities I could have done,” Spence said. “At first I didn’t like it — I thought I already knew how to fight. Four or five months passed and I fell in love with it.”
Spence quit football and began going to the boxing gym every day. Boxing became an obsession. In football, he depended on teammates; in boxing, he controlled his own destiny.
When he learned about the Olympic boxing trials, Spence made making the U.S. Olympic boxing team a goal. He made the team and competed in the 2012 Games in London, although he did not medal.
With last May’s IBF victory over Brooks, Spence served notice that he is ready to break through. But what exactly does that mean? How does a young boxer become the next Floyd Mayweather?
I asked Spence if he thought simply winning in the ring was enough.
In an era of short attention spans and in a fragmented boxing industry that lacks MMA’s robust digital media infrastructure, can Spence become boxing’s next icon?
Can a black fighter become a $300 million-per-fight hit by being respectable and relatively drama-free? Can boxing have a black Roger Federer?
He said his goal is to “give boxing a distinctive look.”
“Everybody sees the black boxer as boastful or cocky or someone who wears a lot of jewelry and is, so-called, ignorant,” Spence said.
There is a historic resistance to Madison Avenue’s view of black athletes, especially black male athletes who feed into negative stereotypes. “A lot of young boxers feel that, ‘The only way I can become a megastar or sell out tickets, I got to act ignorant, talk smack, wear jewelry, buy a lot of cars, get a big house.’ They think they have to sell themselves that way instead of selling who they are,” Spence said.
He added, “A lot of kids look at that. They look at Floyd Mayweather; they look at Adrien Broner. They want to be that. They see the partying lifestyle.”
Spence said that he was no different as young person, growing up in Dallas looking at rappers.
“When I was a kid, I looked at rappers; I wanted jewelry, I wanted everything they had. Young boxer wants everything that Floyd has,” he said.
“I want to be more like Sugar Ray Leonard. You can talk good, you can look good, still be presentable, look nice, represent yourself well, your family well, people will still like you, will still come to watch you fight. You’ll still get endorsements, just like Sugar Ray Leonard did.”
As Saturday faded into Sunday morning, Mayweather faced members of the news media during a postfight news conference and responded to a question about advice he’d give to young boxers. Mayweather exhorted young boxers to pay attention to what he did outside the ring in the business of boxing.
Spence has studied the Money Mayweather model long and hard, eliminating parts that didn’t fit, keeping what works for him. For Spence, the essence of Mayweather’s legacy is winning matches in the ring while remaining free and independent outside of it.
“Basically, I want to take the whole pot,” Spence said. “That’s what it’s all about, getting my share at the end of the day, and not being a slave and having to take whatever they give you.”
William C. Rhoden, the former award-winning sports columnist for The New York Times and author of Forty Million Dollar Slaves, is a writer-at-large for The Undefeated. Contact him at [email protected].
BY WILLIAM C. RHODEN @WCRHODEN
August 28, 2017
Had you asked me to define Floyd Mayweather’s boxing legacy before Saturday’s fight against Conor McGregor, I would have been at a loss.
If this was indeed his swan song, Mayweather will be remembered as a skillful, though not particularly compelling, defensive fighter with a flair for selling the undramatic.
ADVERTISEMENT
But after spending an afternoon last week with International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr., I realized that for a generation of young black boxers, Mayweather’s importance, if not his legacy, is what he’s done outside the ring in the business of boxing. He has shown a generation of boxers how to be the carpenter and not the tool.
In an industry that historically exploits fighters, especially black ones, Mayweather has changed the paradigm. Mayweather reportedly will earn more than $100 million from Saturday’s exhibition. McGregor is expected to take around $30 million, nearly three times more than his largest payday as an MMA champion.
Mayweather’s expected payday adds to the fortune that has made Mayweather one of the richest, perhaps the richest, fighter in boxing history.
Mayweather and McGregor — and the BIG3 — win big in Las Vegas
“Floyd’s broken barriers,” Spence told me over lunch Aug. 25 in Las Vegas. “It’s unheard of for a boxer to promote himself, especially a black boxer, to basically manage himself and control the pot. To control who’s getting this, who’s getting that, and dictating his terms.
“I see that. I see him promoting himself. I see how he’s handling his business and being his own boss, not letting the suits dictate what he does. That’s why a lot of promoters and managers don’t like Al and Floyd.”
He was referring to manager Al Haymon. Spence has not signed with a promoter and has hired Haymon as an adviser.
Mayweather has been immensely successful in the business of boxing. He has shown an upcoming generation of young boxers how they can be much more independent, how they can throw off the traditional yoke of promoters and managers.
“Now boxers are starting to think things like, ‘I should be getting the lion’s share; I’m the fighter,’ ” Spence said. “They’re telling promoters, ‘I should be getting more of the money; you should be getting a smaller percentage. Why are you getting the gate? I’m the one selling out.’
“So now fighters are thinking. Everybody’s waking up now.”
Last May, Spence, 22-0, defeated Kell Brook in Brook’s hometown of Sheffield, England, to win the IBF title. That made Spence, 27, a top welterweight contender. The fighters who stand in his path to the mountaintop are Keith Thurman and Terence Crawford.
If Spence defeats Thurman, the reigning World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council titleholder, then Crawford, he will move closer to the Mayweather model of greater freedom to call his own shots.
“He’s the master of his own show now,” Spence said, referring to Mayweather. “He’s dictating everything, and they hate that. The suits hate that. They hate seeing a black boxer like Floyd Mayweather run the show.”
Spence was born on Long Island, New York, raised in Dallas and played football until he was 15. His father made him switch to boxing heading into his sophomore year of high school. He thought his son had too much idle time on his hands, so he took him to a local boxing gym. “I don’t how he picked a boxing gym, out of all the extracurriculum activities I could have done,” Spence said. “At first I didn’t like it — I thought I already knew how to fight. Four or five months passed and I fell in love with it.”
Spence quit football and began going to the boxing gym every day. Boxing became an obsession. In football, he depended on teammates; in boxing, he controlled his own destiny.
When he learned about the Olympic boxing trials, Spence made making the U.S. Olympic boxing team a goal. He made the team and competed in the 2012 Games in London, although he did not medal.
With last May’s IBF victory over Brooks, Spence served notice that he is ready to break through. But what exactly does that mean? How does a young boxer become the next Floyd Mayweather?
I asked Spence if he thought simply winning in the ring was enough.
In an era of short attention spans and in a fragmented boxing industry that lacks MMA’s robust digital media infrastructure, can Spence become boxing’s next icon?
Can a black fighter become a $300 million-per-fight hit by being respectable and relatively drama-free? Can boxing have a black Roger Federer?
He said his goal is to “give boxing a distinctive look.”
“Everybody sees the black boxer as boastful or cocky or someone who wears a lot of jewelry and is, so-called, ignorant,” Spence said.
There is a historic resistance to Madison Avenue’s view of black athletes, especially black male athletes who feed into negative stereotypes. “A lot of young boxers feel that, ‘The only way I can become a megastar or sell out tickets, I got to act ignorant, talk smack, wear jewelry, buy a lot of cars, get a big house.’ They think they have to sell themselves that way instead of selling who they are,” Spence said.
He added, “A lot of kids look at that. They look at Floyd Mayweather; they look at Adrien Broner. They want to be that. They see the partying lifestyle.”
Spence said that he was no different as young person, growing up in Dallas looking at rappers.
“When I was a kid, I looked at rappers; I wanted jewelry, I wanted everything they had. Young boxer wants everything that Floyd has,” he said.
“I want to be more like Sugar Ray Leonard. You can talk good, you can look good, still be presentable, look nice, represent yourself well, your family well, people will still like you, will still come to watch you fight. You’ll still get endorsements, just like Sugar Ray Leonard did.”
As Saturday faded into Sunday morning, Mayweather faced members of the news media during a postfight news conference and responded to a question about advice he’d give to young boxers. Mayweather exhorted young boxers to pay attention to what he did outside the ring in the business of boxing.
Spence has studied the Money Mayweather model long and hard, eliminating parts that didn’t fit, keeping what works for him. For Spence, the essence of Mayweather’s legacy is winning matches in the ring while remaining free and independent outside of it.
“Basically, I want to take the whole pot,” Spence said. “That’s what it’s all about, getting my share at the end of the day, and not being a slave and having to take whatever they give you.”
William C. Rhoden, the former award-winning sports columnist for The New York Times and author of Forty Million Dollar Slaves, is a writer-at-large for The Undefeated. Contact him at [email protected].
So who has everyone got for the 'Super Series'??? Im going for Usyk in the Crusier's and think Smith might just win the SMW...
JUDAH
OG
He gotta fight Erickson Lubin. Dude aint no slouch. He fought in that Garcia vs Thurman undercard. Smashed his man