Pundit Andre Ward got on his soapbox to argue that Terence Crawford should be in the mix to be considered the Face of Boxing. Ward feels that Crawford’s popularity puts him in the same category as Canelo Alvarez and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis for the Face of the sport.
Ward’s inclusion of Crawford in the Face of Boxing mix makes no sense unless he’s confused about what it means. It makes sense to include Crawford in the pound-for-pound discussions because he’s looked good in certain fights, but he’s not a PPV draw or a fighter that sells seats.
The PPV Kings: Canelo and Tank
Mexican superstar Canelo is still the king of PPV in the U.S., and Gervonta is trailing behind him. His last fight against Frank Martin brought in 350K.
Before that, Tank did 1.2 million against Ryan Garcia, but those numbers were due to Kingry’s popularity. Canelo’s last fight against Jaime Munguia was 560K, which is much higher than Tank’s recent match against Martin.
“When I think of the Face of Boxing, I think about Canelo Alvarez, Gervonta Davis, but then you also can’t leave out Terence Crawford,” said pod host Andre Ward to All the Smoke, including Terence Crawford in the Face of Boxing mix, even though he can’t sell out stadiums or bring in PPV buys.
Age, Style, and Fan Apparel
Crawford, 36, has fought only once a year since 2020 and can’t sell out stadiums or bring in PPV buys unless he’s fighting Errol Spence. Before fighting Errol last year, if brought in 700K PPVs, Crawford’s highest numbers were the 150K for a match against Amir Khan in 2019.
In Crawford’s last fight against Israil Madrimov on August 3rd, it’s rumored to have pulled in between 75K to 100K PPV buys. Those are well short of what Canelo Alvarez and Tank Davis are doing for their fights.
Crawford’s problem is that he’s getting old. He’s been fighting once a year, and his style isn’t fan-friendly. He looked good against the faded Errol Spence, but he didn’t look impressive against Madrimov in their chess match, and he’s been dull to watch in many of his other fights. I can count on one hand the number of entertaining fights Crawford has had during his career, and that’s the reason he’s not the Face of Boxing.
Crawford is more of a boxer, not a brawler or knockout artist like Canelo and Tank Davis. To be a big star in the U.S. in this era, you’ve got to be entertaining to watch by going for knockouts.
Shifting Fan Appeal
The Mayweather era is over, and fans have changed. They’ve become accustomed to seeing knockouts in the UFC and expect pure entertainment when watching boxing events.
Crawford is in the same boat as Mayweather and Shakur Stevenson, having a style that doesn’t attract fans in this era.
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