Top Rank Star Terence Crawford Doesn’t Believe in COVID-19 but Wants to Be Paid More Because of It
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been hard on everyone, and sports, in general, have taken a big hit due to the mass cancellation of events. That said, there’s a lot of crazy in the boxing world, so unsurprisingly, some boxers, Terence Crawford included, don’t believe in the pandemic. But still, even if he doesn’t, he wants to get paid more to fight because of it.
What Terence Crawford has to say about the Coronavirus pandemic
While Crawford is the undefeated champion in three weight classes, he holds some controversial views in regard to the pandemic. As CBS Sports reported, he isn’t talking about conspiracy theories like 5G or the like.
Instead, he said that the Coronavirus was just the flu and that society will need to protect those who are vulnerable to it, such as the elderly and the overweight.
But, despite the fact that he admitted that one of his friends tested positive for it, Crawford said that the pandemic was just an excuse for the government to control people.
He said that, “I think they’re using fear to try to control us right now, for something else,” according to CBS Sports. He then admitted to not knowing what that “something else” was, but still, he doubts the pandemic is as bad as scientists are saying it is.
As a result, despite the fact that thousands of Americans are dying by the day from the virus, Crawford said that he and his family aren’t in quarantine like many Americans are. Instead, he said that his daily life has remained about the same as before.
Terence Crawford still wants to get paid, though
Some boxing organizations, including Top Rank, which Crawford fights for, are already thinking about hosting events in empty arenas. This was something that the WWE has been doing for a while now, as the WWE is considered essential in Florida.
In fact, CBS Sports reported that Top Rank was thinking of using the WWE’s empty arena in Florida to host boxing events without an audience. In response, despite doubting the pandemic, Crawford said that he’d have to be paid more to fight in those empty arena events.
His argument is that, since he and other fighters get a cut of the tickets that are sold, the event organizers should pay him for missing out on those ticket sales.
On top of that, while he doesn’t seem to care much about the Coronavirus pandemic, he does care about his own health. As CBS Sports said, Crawford also wants to be paid more for taking the health risk that’s associated with boxing in general.
Why this may or may not happen
Bob Arum, the CEO of Top Rank, told CBS Sports that there are two scenarios for champions like Crawford. The first scenario is that they just don’t fight during the pandemic. Losing ticket sales impacts more than just the boxers, as it also affects the event organizers as well. The second scenario is that they do box, but they don’t get paid extra from losing those ticket sales.
As Arum explained, somebody will have to make up for losing those ticket sales, and the boxing organization can’t just make that money come out of thin air. So, even if boxing events happen in empty arenas, it’s unlikely that boxers like Crawford will box, and if they do, it’s likely that they won’t get paid extra.
On top of that, it’s entirely possible that these empty arena events get canceled. Things are changing by the day, so maybe Florida will close down these events in the near future. In any case, the most likely scenario is that Crawford continues dominating later in the year, just like other boxers will.
