"It Was Planned": Crawford on Fans Leaving Stevenson's Fight

On the night of July 7, American WBC lightweight champion (up to 61.2 kg) Shakur Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) won a unanimous decision over Germany's Artem Harutyunyan (12-2, 7 KOs) to defend his title.

The fight took place in Shakur's hometown of Newark, USA, and was the last in his contract with the promotional company Top Rank. During the broadcast, there was an incident in the 12th round when cameras captured fans starting to leave the arena before the final bell. Stevenson commented on the episode:

"I wonder how much they paid those f*ing n**rs to leave at the same time, and ESPN showed it during the broadcast?"

WBA, WBC, and WBO welterweight champion (up to 66.7 kg) Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs), who was present at the arena, also commented on the incident.

"Those are not real fans. There's no need to worry about those people. It was quite strange how they all stood up at the same time and left. It seems to me that it was planned. But, who cares?

They all paid their money to see his fight. Shakur looked great and won an impressive victory, so let it be," Crawford said.

It's worth noting that Shakur declined a new offer from Top Rank, and his preliminary contract ended on July 7, making him a free agent currently choosing a promoter between Mayweather Promotions and Matchroom Boxing. On July 13, he will attend the fight between Jaron Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs) and David Avanesyan (30-4-1, 18 KOs), organized by Matchroom's Eddie Hearn.

On August 3, Terence Crawford will debut in the super welterweight division (up to 69.9 kg) against Israil Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs). The bout will be for the WBA and "interim" WBO titles.