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Promoters are always prone to exaggeration or even plain, old, no-nonsense B.S., so keep that in mind when hearing this news/rumor/whatever. Eddie Hearn says that there has "been talk" of WBO lightweight titlist Ricky Burns facing Terence Crawford at Madison Square Garden:
"There is talk already of Burns against a young fighter called Terence Crawford at Madison Square Garden. Crawford is an HBO fighter. But Ricky has tremendous support up here in Glasgow and I think we can make those big fights here."
While I am certain that Top Rank is potentially interested in matching Crawford (21-0, 16 KO) against Burns (36-2, 11 KO) in the United States should Burns get past Raymundo Beltran on September 7, and Crawford win in his October 5 return on HBO, I think a few things need to be taken with a grain of salt here.
- Madison Square Garden? I feel like UK promoters sometimes say "Madison Square Garden" because it's a familiar American venue for British fans. The truth is that outside of Miguel Cotto, MSG has been a half-dead boxing venue for a long time now. The Theater at MSG, maybe, but even then you'd probably need something better than Scotland vs Nebraska. The Mohegan Sun or one of the Atlantic City venues would seem more fitting, if you want to be in the northeast with this fight.
- Honestly, Glasgow would be the best place for the fight, but Crawford's not going to be sent to Glasgow for a world title fight. He's just barely starting to make a name for himself on U.S. TV, and the reality is that no matter how legit facing Ricky Burns would be (it's very legit), there just isn't much difference between facing Ricky Burns and facing, say, John Molina, as far as U.S. viewers are concerned. Crawford is a long way off from "needing" to face Ricky Burns, as ass-backwards as that might be in terms of this being a sport.