Terence Crawford thinks fighters need to be more assertive in combat sports.
The first man to capture undisputed titles in three weight-classes in the four-belt era of boxing, Crawford is widely regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time. Last year, Crawford retired after beating Canelo Alvarez, saying he had nothing left to accomplish in the sport. But while “Bud” may be done, combat sports roll on, and he’d like to see some changes from his peers. Specifically, Crawford wants his fellow
fighters to understand how much power they have.
“These combat sports, it’s got to come from the fighters,” Crawford told Joe Rogan on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast when talking about weight-cutting being a problem in the UFC. “Just like boxing. I think if the fighters come together, they can make anything happen. The fighters don’t understand the level of power that they carry, because they think, ‘Oh, since they’re cutting the check, they’ve got the power.’ But they can’t cut the check without us.”
The idea of MMA fighters banding together has been around for years but never come even close to happening. Various attempts at organizing fighters have started and stopped, faltering early on as fighters seem broadly disinterested in the idea. Or, as Crawford says, because the financial realities of opposing the promoters are not viable for many fighters.
“But it’s the fighters that need the money that makes it hard, because the fighters already got the money, they can make a stand for something,” Crawford said. “But the fighters that doesn’t, they’re like, ‘You can do that. I’ve got to provide for my family. You can take a chance of going at the organization for a year or however long it’s going to last, but who’s going to pay my bills? Who is going to put food on my family’s table while we’re doing this, while we’re making a stand? So it’s a little tougher for them to make that stand than a person that’s already established. I think that’s where the seesaw effect happens with boxing and UFC.”
