On June 28, 2014, Terence Crawford announced himself to the boxing world as the next superstar. In his first world title defense, he faced Olympic gold medalist and former IBF featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa in front of his hometown crowd in Omaha, delivering one of the standout performances of his career. However, what is far more impressive is the way the Bud Crawford led his career after his big win.
Since his victory over Gamboa, the Omaha native has won world titles in four divisions, becoming the first male fighter in history to become an undisputed champion in two different divisions. Furthermore, he is now ready to face Canelo Alvarez in his fifth weight division. Regardless, even in his wildest dreams, he would never have thought that his skills would be questioned. However, that is exactly what Gervonta Davis did. During the official press conference of his upcoming fight, Tank not only shared his opinion on the upcoming Canelo-Crawford fight but went beyond that.
Terence Crawford’s relationship with Victor Conte brought into question
During the event, Elie Seckbach was able to get hold of the Baltimore native and immediately asked him about the Canelo-Crawford blockbuster in September. While he acknowledged that Bud is a great fighter, Tank was surprised that he hadn’t been hurt even once in the last few years, despite strolling around multiple weight divisions. “Didn’t he(Terence Crawford) get hurt by Gamboa?! How the f**k has he been looking this strong the past years?!” asked Davis. Tank himself has strolled around various weight divisions and has been undefeated. However, he was surprised that Crawford “ain’t been getting clipped or nothing.” Even in his last fight against Israil Madrimov, the 37-year-old looked like he was struggling, yet Madrimov was not able to land a heavy blow.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – OCTOBER 18: Victor Conte, founder of Balco speaks with the media at the Federal Courthouse after his sentencing in the Balco steroid case on October 18, 2005 in San Francisco, California. The case, which brought international attention to the steroid use by athletes, came to a close today with Victor Conte receiving four months jail time and four months of house arrest. (Photo by David Paul Morris/Getty Images)
Because of this, Gervonta Davis feels there is something suspicious about the 41-0 boxer. “That’s that SNAC sh*t! I’m telling you,” he added. He even referenced the infamous BALCO scandal of 2005, which saw Victor Conte—current CEO of SNAC Nutrition—sentenced to jail time. “That guy(Victor Conte), who’s a part of it, been caught before..he went to jail for it!” remarked Gervonta Davis.
While it is true that Terence Crawford has been one of SNAC Nutrition’s sponsored athletes for some time, to insinuate that he is on any performance-enhancing drugs is simply untrue, at least based on the numerous VADA tests that Bud Crawford has had to undergo over the years. Even for the undisputed title fight with Spence in 2023, both fighters had to undergo stringent eight-week VADA testing during camp and fight night, all of which came out negative, thus proving Crawford wasn’t on any PEDs.
While SNAC is just a sports nutrition company that helps in muscle recovery, energy levels, and overall health during intense training regimens, Gervonta Davis believes that it unnaturally assists the user. After sharing his doubts on Terence Crawford, the WBA lightweight champion shared his opinion on the September bout as well. Well, spoiler alert, he might not be happy about the clash.
Gervonta Davis slams fighters for siding with Turki Alalshikh
While the involvement of Saudis has rejuvenated boxing, the former three-division champion has a sour relationship with them. The rivalry reached a boiling point when Tank was not invited to the prestigious ‘The Ring Magazine Awards’ gala last year. Since then, he has been mostly critical of His Excellency Turki Alalshikh.
During the press conference, Tank expressed his concerns regarding where the sport is heading. According to him, every fighter is “selling themselves. Like even in the picture where everybody was in the room, that sh*t looked like some devil s**t. Like they sold their soul,” he declared.
He then bashed the upcoming Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford dream fight, claiming it should not have happened. According to him, there is only one reason the fight is happening. And that is because “Crawford needs the money.” Like the majority of the boxing world, even he thinks that the weight discrepancy is too much, and Terence Crawford taking the fight might not be a wise decision. It is a well-known fact that Crawford and Davis don’t share a good relationship with one another, so it only stands to reason that that might have some role to play in Tank’s critical view of Terence Crawford. Now, what Crawford has to say in response, only time will tell.
What are your views on Gervonta Davis’ statement? Do you doubt Terence Crawford’s clean image? Let us know your thoughts down below.
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