And it wasn't even good shit.
A little over 14,000 abused fans inside of Madison Square Garden saw their pricey ticket go up in smoke.
Debo (“You”, The Fan) turned remotes of unknown and remorseful PPV buys into flaming tools of disgust.
Scores of media, domestic and international, picked up their bags of work and wondered aloud in a state of bewildered: “What the fuck was that?”
Not even the Avengers could understand this End Game.
Even the champion– ice glare intact and contentiously against who I knew was more pretender than contender, was left grovelling in serene disgust from a “low blow” he would've fought through was forced to ask, “So, you didn't quit?”
The look on his ravaged face said it all. Forever etched in boxing lore is his name: A mere con.
It will be beautiful violence from Terence Crawford and an ugly peace for Amir Khan. Goodness, gracious six rounds of
—Yours Truly, on Twitter 4/19
Being right bears the responsibility of writing wrongs. On the heels of consensus world #1 Vasiliy Lomachenko going WWIII on Anthony Crolla last week in Los Angeles and the EMP unleashed on Mikey Garcia by Errol Spence Jr (pound-for-pound #1 on many polls) last month in Dallas, it was thought that WBO welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford (35-0, 26KOs) would light up the skies of New York City with an orange mushroom cloud of a fiery Amir “King” Khan (33-5, 20KOs), to validate claims of Bud's preeminence on the throne.
That didn't happen.
Shrouded in gold and squared in white on the Eve of Easter, Crawford dropped Khan near the end of a fairly even opening round. That the first meaningful overhand right he landed sank Khan was ominous; as for all intents and purposes, his ship sailed right then and there. Still, Khan was able to hang around and offer pesky resistance and find a few technical holes in Crawford's game; particularly, an aversion to slipping shots in favor of pulling back in the orthodox stance; to downright leaky defense from a fighter who becomes more aggressive in the southpaw stance.
Khan, though unbeaten at 147 prior, was still there to be Breidis Prescott'd by Crawford, which would've averted discussion of a low blow that wasn't. For clarity, Amir was hit on the deep inside of his right thigh by a Bud left hook – short of the cup – and discarded his shield of war. By deciding to forego use of the allotted five minute refrain per governing body rules, Khan flat out quit. Whether leaning toward the advice of trainer Virgil Hunter to discontinue (who wasn't present– that's a clue), or seeking a DQ, Khan's craven back door on the proceedings was absolutely reprehensible. His legacy now a billowing cloud of black smoke, to be clear, this is no longer a fighter with “a name” to ever be used again. EVER.
Khan took hard heat Saturday night and Sunday, for quitting. (Mikey Williams pic)
Once that fake ass smoke did clear, Spence, the IBF welterweight champion who once referred to Top Rank boss Bob Arum as “Smoke and Mirrors”, wasted no time responding on social media to The Bobfather and his Bud, with a fully lit-up blunt flavored #ManDown.
Just to test the waters of where this discussion might go, I asked Crawford on the podium if he was aware of Danny “Swift” Garcia and his massacre of Adrian Granados, and whether or not in light of Bob Arum's passionate insistence that Al Haymon does not want PBC fighters facing ESPN fighters, if he felt that fight could somehow be made; implication being: If he's apprehensive about risking an unbeaten Spence against Crawford, then perhaps he'll come to terms for a cross promotional war featuring Bud Vs Swift.
“You just answered the question,” dead-panned a frustrated Crawford, leaving his always honest and straight-shooting coach, Brian “Bo-Mack” McIntyre, to put aside Swift talk and lobby for “The Truth”.
“We need to make this motherf******* fight right now. Bud almost 32. Ain't no more [marinating], and I'm a damn chef! Errol Spence need to come up out of that closet!”
For the record, I think “The Truth” might be in Crawford's driveway right now. In other words, it's time for Al Haymon to end the whole hidden presence, Charlie's Angel's situation…
…and come out of whatever closet he's hiding in, since Arum has gone from an insinuation that he doesn't even exist, to an insistence that Al Haymon – and he alone – will be the reason the fight does not get made.
Don Bob left no ambiguity on the table – or in the ring last night – as to ESPN or Top Rank being a deterrent; clearly placing the onus squarely on the shoulders of Al Haymon and the executives of Premier Boxing Champions.
Not only is love a verb, but love is a dual word, forcing one to act with a respect that's earned. If Al Haymon is in fact, as we say in Da Hood, “in the way” of this Superfight, then as the promoter of Errol Spence Jr, a man who takes nothing but pride in the black community – in Dallas, or anywhere people of color exist in an urban city that loves boxing, then that means his black promoter (not the white one) is doing a deliberate disservice to the black community and boxing fans in general. I don't want to believe that, so prove it.
All that's at stake is “The Truth”.