Bob Arum calls Terence Crawford lawsuit ‘malicious extortion attempt’

After yesterday’s bombshell announcement that welterweight titleholder Terence Crawford is filing a lawsuit against his former promoter Bob Arum, alleging racial bias while seeking damages of around $10M, Bob Arum quickly issued a statement as captured by Mike Coppinger.

“Bud Crawford’s lawsuit against Top Rank is frivolous. His vile accusations of racism are reckless and indefensible. He knows it, and his lawyer knows it. I have spent my entire career working life as a champion of Black boxers, Latino boxers, and other boxers of color. I have no doubt the court will see Crawford’s case for the malicious extortion attempt that it is.”

Obviously with this case headed to litigation there will be plenty to come from this story as time passes. For now Terence Crawford is a promotional free agent who will presumably try to position himself to land the biggest fights to make in the sport. A long awaited fight against Errol Spence is out of the question for the immediate future, so it’ll be interesting to see how Crawford chooses to play his hand.