Crawford-Beltran a potential FOTY?

Bob Arum is bringing Terence Crawford right back to his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska hoping to recreate the electric atmosphere of the Crawford-Gamboa bout. Crawford, as is to be expected, is thrilled to once again perform in front of his hometown fans where his meteoric rise is now in full swing.

"It's an honor to fight in my hometown during the holiday season in front of my fans and family who will be traveling to Omaha," said Crawford, who turned 27 on Sept. 8, during a Tuesday press conference at The CenturyLink Arena.

"It's great that Top Rank and HBO are coming back into town to promote another show on one of the biggest weekends of the year. My team and I are training hard to put on a good show for everyone. No one will be disappointed."

Arum, ever the spokesman for hyperbole, says that he expects this fight to be a potential FOTY.

"This fight between Crawford and Beltran could very well be the fight of the year," said Arum. "Their styles and skills of both fighters guarantee as much."

Hmmm, I'm not sure sure where to go with that one. Look, its certainly a great technical match-up but I surely don't expect a barn burner in terms of excitement, so FOTY candidate is where I hop off the hype train. I've mentioned before that Beltran is a prolific counter puncher and that Crawford, while versatile enough to do pretty much everything, is also pretty inclined to counter punch as well. That's not typically a recipe for a FOTY. Then again, with all the terrible match-ups this year, it probably doesn't have to turn into Rios-Alvarado to at least gain some consideration. That speaks to this year's matchmaking more so than anything else.

Any ol' way, Beltran - who has been the victim of poor judging in the past - sees this fight as an opportunity to finally realize his dream and gain the widespread recognition that he deserves.

"Crawford has shown to be a talented fighter and is someone I respect," said Beltran, 33, of Crawford, who ended Burns' streak of eight consecutive title defenses. "But I see this fight as an opportunity for me to achieve the recognition in the boxing world and the public's eye. This is my moment."