By Adam Baskin: Terence Crawford says undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo isn’t one his or Errol Spence Jr’s level.
Crawford says that Jermell (35-1-1, 19 KOs) is “mad and jealous” that he’s not as talented as him.
Charlo, 32, is already on Crawford’s target list, as he plans on going after him almost immediately once he moves up to 154.
Recently, Jermell sounded pessimistic about defending against Crawford without him having to work for the title shot.
With Crawford’s WBO welterweight title, he can petition the Boxing Organization to insert him into the #1 mandatory spot at 154 to force Jermell to face him.
Crawford: Jermell Charlo is not on my level
“Jermell Charlo’s got to understand. He’s undisputed, and he’s done what he’s done in the sport of boxing, but he’s not on my level, nor Errol Spence’s level, and I think that makes him mad and jealous. He feels like he’s supposed to be at the top echelon, but he’s not,” said Terence Crawford to The Last Stand Podcast about Jermell Charlo, reacting to being told by the undisputed 154-lb champion that he should “humble” himself, take less money for the first Errol Spence Jr fight, and then get the bigger purse for the second fight, should he win.
“I’d beat his a** any day, easy,” said Crawford about Jermell.
“I don’t feel like I let down anything,” said Terence when asked if he feels like he let the sport of boxing down by failing to make the fight with Errol Spence Jr. “I feel like I did everything I could possibly do to make that fight happen.
“I even called the man [Spence] on the phone to try to, ‘Listen, we got X-amount on the line, let’s do this.’ That wasn’t me putting my chest out. That was a brother to another brother. I was a fan of Errol. I ain’t got no bad blood with Errol. It’s business, so, of course, I’m going to call him up, and he went the other way.
“This was in the middle when negotiations were ongoing. I hope so, but if not, it is what it is. I wish him the best in his career, and I’m going to continue to do in my career,” said Crawford when asked if he sees a fight between him and Spence in 2023.
