A pair of undefeated fighters who still have yet to throw hands in the ring recently decided to do so on Twitter instead.
Unified junior welterweight titlist Terence Crawford (29-0, 20 KOs) called out WBC welterweight champion Danny Garcia (32-0, 18 KOs) on Twitter earlier this week, challenging him to a fight. Crawford was apparently irked by comments made by Garcia’s father/trainer Angel labeling Crawford a “make believe champion” in an interview with FightHype.com.
@DannySwift yo dad said im a made up champion for beating the guy yall was scared to fight????
— Terence Crawford (@budcrawford402) August 9, 2016
@DannySwift so i tell you what tell yo dad make the fight and ill show him how much of a paper champ i am at yo weight and for yo belt.
— Terence Crawford (@budcrawford402) August 9, 2016
Crawford, who was referencing his unanimous decision victory over Viktor Postol in July, was quickly obliged by Garcia, who proceeded to question the legitimacy of Crawford’s wins over Postol and Cuban boxer Yuriorkis Gamboa.
@budcrawford402 you doing what I did 3 years ago. I ain't no little gamboa or stiff postal. I end careers check my track record.
— Danny 'Swift' Garcia (@DannySwift) August 9, 2016
The two would go back and forth from there with Crawford casting doubt on Garcia’s own opponents and Garcia poking fun at Crawford’s pay-per-view buys and telling him to get his Top Rank promoter Bob Arum to call Al Haymon, Garcia’s manager.
@DannySwift that same stiff guy yall paid so you didn't have to fight his that guy? Look im not them old guy you been fighting you know that
— Terence Crawford (@budcrawford402) August 9, 2016
@budcrawford402 your fight did 50k buys lol if you wanna do real numbers and get defeated. Tell bob to call AL. ✌?️
— Danny 'Swift' Garcia (@DannySwift) August 9, 2016
@DannySwift no problem
— Terence Crawford (@budcrawford402) August 9, 2016
Crawford would likely have to move up in weight to face Garcia, but his speed/technical ability versus the power/timing of Garcia would make for quite the entertaining matchup. Still, a bout is unlikely to happen given the Arum/Haymon Cold War and that both fighters stand to take a sizable marketability hit by losing their undefeated status.
Regardless of whether or not a fight gets done, bad blood in boxing is always fun, so it’s worth keeping an eye on to see if Crawford-Garcia becomes the sport’s next great rivalry.
Image Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
