Terence Crawford-John Molina Jr. set for Dec. 10

ESPN is reporting that a junior welterweight title defense between Terence Crawford (29-0, 20 KOs) and John Molina Jr. (29-6, 23 KOs) is official for Dec. 10. Bob Arum, who promotes Crawford, says that contracts haven’t been signed just yet but that the terms have been agreed to and will be apart of a HBO doubleheader.

The fight will be held in Crawford’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska at the CenturyLink Center after Bob Arum was able to negotiate a deal to have Creighton University, who had that venue booked for Dec. 10, reschedule their game to pave way for the fight.

One notable aspect of this fight, since it’s definitely not the fight itself, is that this is the first time in years that Top Rank and Al Haymon have struck a deal (aside from May-Pac) to pit their fighters against one another in a non-mandatory fight. So perhaps the ice has finally thawed between the embattled rivals which will potentially pave the way for much bigger and better fights in the future.

"I have absolutely no problem making fights with Haymon now. I respect him as a very smart guy, and I would do business with my fighters on his cards and I have no problem offering his fighters opportunities to fight my fighters on my cards," Arum said. "That wasn't true when we were in litigation, but the litigation is over now."

Another interesting note is that Felix Diaz (18-1, 8 KOs), who wanted the fight and was seen to be the most deserving opponent available for Crawford, wasn’t even offered the bout. He was treated with Rigondeaux-esque disgust.

"My [matchmakers] said Diaz is a stinker and that it would not be a good fight to watch," Arum said.

That’s sort of a tough break for Diaz who was coming off a big upset win over Sammy Vasquez back in July. But this is boxing and we have to take the small wins where we can get them. For now, let’s just hope the fights between Top Rank and Haymon’s PBC crew keeps on comin’.