Terence Crawford will return to the ring on December 10 as he faces not unified 147-pound champion Errol Spence but current European Champion and WBC No. 4-ranked David Avanesyan at CHI Health Center in Crawford’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.
The fight will be on pay-per-view and be streamed by BLK Prime; the pay-per-view price is $39.99.
This will be BLK Prime’s first streaming of a professional boxing event.
Crawford and Spence were in negotiations for a mega fight, but at this point, the two sides could not come to an agreement. Spence reportedly could fight Keith Thurman or Eimantas Stanionis next.
“I’m excited about this opportunity,” Crawford told ESPN’s Mike Coppinger. “I was really looking forward to the Errol Spence fight. I started communicating with [boxing manager] Al Haymon and PBC back in June. And unfortunately, they represent a fighter in Errol Spence who didn’t want the fight as bad as I did.
“I agreed to all of their [B.S.] and they’ve been dragging their ass for months. Spence was nowhere to be found while I was trying to make the deal,” Crawford continued. “I explained to Al Haymon and Errol that I was going to fight before the end of the year. … David Avanesyan is a very tough task. He’s knocked out his last six opponents and this guy is dangerous. Once I’m successful against Avanesyan, my plan is still the same: Whoop Errol Spence’s ass.”
For this fight against Avanesyan, according to Coppinger, Crawford will earn a career-high eight-figure payday.
The 35-year-old Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs) is widely considered the No. 1 pound-for-pound star in the sport, topping the rankings on major publications including ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and Yahoo Sports. Known for his exceptionally fast hand speed, ring IQ, counter-punching abilities, defense, and ability to switch naturally from orthodox to southpaw, Crawford won his first world title at lightweight in 2008.
More recently, Crawford has been a force in the welterweight division, disposing of world champions Jeff Horn, Amir Khan, Kell Brook, and Shawn Porter. His last time out, Crawford became the first fighter to stop Porter, putting him down twice in the 10th round.
The 34-year-old Russian native Avanesyan (29-3-1, 17 KOs) biggest win of his career took place in 2016 when he scored a unanimous decision against former world champion Shane Mosley to retain his title while also making his United States debut. Avanesyan is currently riding a six-fight knockout streak and is considered an okay opponent.
