Undisputed welterweight world champion Terence Crawford is riding the biggest moment of his pro career.
Last month, Crawford battered and stopped longtime division rival Errol Spence to become a two-time undisputed champion.
Crawford explains that he was never hands-on when it came to his contract negotiations – until he began to realize how much money was being left on the table.
“Boxing is one of the most corrupt sports there is,” Crawford detailed on Boardroom’s “Out of Office.”
“We’ll take a $5 million guarantee not knowing that there’s $30 million that we missed. I used to be that guy. ‘Let me take this [money] and just do my job. Let me sign this contract and get this guarantee.’ But once you get older and once you start noticing that you’re in control of your own business, ‘Okay, so, let me see the contracts. Let me see what’s really coming in.”
Crawford was promoted for years by Top Rank. They parted ways in late 2021 and are currently embroiled in a lawsuit, with Crawford alleging that his career was mishandled.
According to Crawford, his relationship with Top Rank began to crumble when he began to ask business questions.
“Once I started asking those type of questions or learning a little bit here and there, then it became a problem between me and my old promoter [Bob Arum of Top Rank], and at that point in time, I knew it was time to go,” Crawford said.
Although Crawford is aligned with Al Haymon and Premier Boxing Champions, he is self-promoted in the same manner as Floyd Mayweather was – who during his pro career also parted ways with Top Rank and pushed himself forward through a self-made promotional company.
“I don’t see [Floyd] trying to give the game to the younger fighters because he’s a promoter now. I can’t give everybody the game if I’m one of them now,” Crawford said.
“It’s a business at the end of the day. So, if they made all this money on our backs as fighters and now I’m a promoter, I’m gonna do the same thing that they once was doing and just say, ‘It’s just the game of the business.’”