Pod host Andre Ward says Terence Crawford is one of the three faces of Boxing, along with Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Canelo Alvarez.
The Rise of the Entertainer: Ryan Garcia
It’s not even close when comparing the three in terms of biggest PPV draw. It’s Canelo Alvarez by a considerable margin. In comparison, Crawford and Tank Davis are small potatoes and don’t come close to the buy level. You can argue that Ryan Garcia is more popular than Tank and Crawford combined.
With Ryan’s large social media following and ability to connect with fans during interviews, he leaves behind Tank and Crawford. It doesn’t matter that Ryan has never won a world title. He’s still more popular than those guys. It shows you how boxing is now more about entertainment than winning trinket belts in watered down divisions. Being a champion means nothing now.
Ward says he’s not sure who the true face of the sport is, but he feels four-division world champion Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) should be mentioned along with Tank and Canelo. Ward fails to acknowledge that what a fighter has accomplished in the sport does not matter.
PPV numbers matter
If they can’t sell seats outside of their hometown and aren’t a PPV attraction, they can’t be the face of boxing. Unfortunately, Crawford is not a PPV draw and cannot sell outside of Omaha, Nebraska.
We saw this with Crawford’s fight against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on August 3rd at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. Even with His Excellency Turki Alalshikh stacking the undercard with outstanding fighters, the 22,000-seat stadium still didn’t sell out.
If Crawford was the face of the sport, that stadium would have been sold out, and it would have brought in tons of PPV buys, especially with the undercard.
To be the top man in boxing, you have to be able to sell. Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez has done it consistently in the US, Gervonta Davis has never been on Canelo’s level or anywhere near it in terms of PPV buys.
Baltimore native Tank has only had one major PPV event in his 11-year career, against Ryan Garcia last year. It racked up 1.2 million purchases, and you could argue the success was down to Ryan’s 12 million Instagram followers. Without Ryan, Tank would return to his usual low 200K numbers.
Tank Davis’ Highest PPV Fights
- Ryan Garcia: 1.2 million
- Frank Martin: 350K
- Rolando Romero: 275K
The two-headed monster and a third contender: Crawford
“I have a hard time for one person to say they’re the face of boxing because typically when a person is that big, even when Floyd was the face of boxing, you let Floyd tell you he’s still the face of boxing (on 47),” says Andre Ward to their All the Smoke YouTube channel.
“It’s difficult because you fight once or twice a year. If you’re the only one who doesn’t fight ten months out of the year, who’s stopping the sport? You have different levels of notoriety, and these guys also hold the sport in high esteem. I would say the Face of Boxing is now a two-headed monster.
Crawford’s highest PPV fights
- Errol Spence: 700K
- Amir Khan: 150K
- Shawn Porter: 135K
“I think it’s Gervonta Davis. You can’t deny what he did. You can’t deny what he generates, and you can’t deny his performances. You also can’t deny what Canelo Alvarez has been doing for a very long time.
Canelo Alvarez’s Highest PPV Fights
- Floyd Mayweather Jr: 2.2 million
- Gennadiy Golovkin I: 1.3 million
- Gennadiy Golovkin II: 1.1 million
- Miguel Cotto: 900K
“When I think of the face of boxing, I think of Canelo Alvarez, Gervonta Davis, but then you can’t leave out Terence Crawford either, I think there are faces of boxing. I think it’s out of those three,” Ward said.
