Jeff Horn is Firm, Wants "Millions" To Face Terence Crawford
WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn (18-0-1, 12 KOs) is looking for a huge payday - if promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank wants him to face mandatory challenger Terence Crawford (32-0, 23 KOs) next.
According to reports, Horn might be looking for millions to get in the ring with Crawford.
The Courier Mail notes that Top Rank obtained two fight options on Horn - as part the Aussie fighter's upset win over Manny Pacquiao at Suncorp Stadium on July 2.
As part of the two-fight deal, Horn was guaranteed at least $750,000 per fight. He satisfied one of those fights last Wednesday night, when he stopped Englishman Gary Corcoran.
Horn's team, consisting of trainer/manager Glenn Rushton and promoter Dean Lonergan, have made it clear that a payday of even $1 million would be too light for a Crawford defense.
Arum is reportedly targeting the date of April 21 to stage the fight, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“I can tell you now, Jeff won’t be fighting Crawford for $1 million,” Lonergan told the paper.
“This is a huge fight, pitting a man who beat an 11-time world champ (Pacquiao) against a fighter who is unbeaten in 32 bouts and regarded by many as the world’s best boxer, pound-for-pound. This will be one of the biggest fights in the world in 2018.”
Crawford became the mandatory challenger after he vacated all four of his junior middleweight titles to make the leap to the welterweight limit of 147. Because he was the WBO champion at 140, he automatically becomes the mandatory challenger at the higher weight division.
Another factor to come into the fold, Horn has also been offered a $2 million payday against former world champion Anthony Mundine in what would be a major fight on Australian soil.
But there are issues in making a deal with Mundine, as he views himself as the bigger name of the two and wants the bulk of the money involved in that fight.