Terence Crawford vs Hank Lundy likely for 2/27

Terence "Bud" Crawford appears to have his next opponent, as the reigning WBO 140-pound titleholder has reportedly verbally agreed to face Hank Lundy on February 27 on HBO, live from The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, according to BoxingJunkie's Mike Coppinger.

Crawford (27-0, 19 KO) was one of three names tied to Manny Pacquiao's next (and last?) fight on April 9, but by the time that Pacquiao announced a third fight with Tim Bradley last week, it was already known that Crawford was out of the race, and headed for a February return. The 28-year-old fighter beat Thomas Dulorme to win the vacant WBO junior welterweight belt in April, and defended successfully against Dierry Jean on October 24.

While his 2015 wins may not have exactly propelled him from his 2014 Fighter of the Year claim, he did move up a division and win another belt. Lundy (26-5-1, 13 KO) doesn't seem a serious test for Crawford on paper, but the 32-year-old Philadelphia fighter makes for good fights most of the time, and is one of the better trash talkers in the sport today.

Crawford, 28, is also in something of a pickle, as Top Rank only has one obvious fight for him, which is a showdown with fellow titleholder Viktor Postol, also an unbeaten fighter coming off of a big win against Lucas Matthysse. But they may prefer to build that up a bit more before pulling the trigger, and in the meantime, the two have to fight someone.