Top Rank Boxing has officially announced Terence Crawford's next fight.
Crawford, arguably boxing's pound-for-pound best fighter, will defend his WBO welterweight title against Amir Khan. The two will square off at a venue to be announced later on April 20 and it will be shown on pay-per-view.
This is the first time a Top Rank on ESPN show is shown on pay-per-view but it is not the first such fight for either boxer. Crawford and Khan have headlined separate pay-per-views for HBO, but Khan is far more experienced in fighting on pay-per-view. Crawford's lone pay-per-view bout took place in 2016 when he defeated Viktor Postol in a junior welterweight unification.
Buyrate numbers for that fight were low with less than 100,000 buys coming in. As for Khan, his last fight on pay-per-view in the United States, against Canelo Alvarez in 2016 drew in approximately 600,000 buys. Khan has also headlined numerous pay-per-view fights in the United Kingdom. Crawford vs. Khan will be the third scheduled boxing pay-per-view in the United States this year with Manny Pacquiao vs. Adrien Broner and Errol Spence Jr. vs. Mikey Garcia set to headline their own shows ls on January 19 and March 16, respectively.
The fight will be Crawford's second welterweight title defense since winning the belt in the summer of 2018 when he stopped former titlist Jeff Horn on a boxing show streamed on ESPN+. Crawford is coming off a 12th-round stoppage victory over Jose Benavidez Jr. back in October.
Khan is on a two-fight win streak since losing to Alvarez in 2016. Khan previously signed with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing with some believing it would lead to a fight against British rival Kell Brook. But Khan, a former WBA and IBF junior welterweight champion, decided to choose another route, getting another opportunity to fight for a world title.
