Terence Crawford vs Egidijus Kavaliauskas: Switch-hitting extraordinaire returns but still trapped on wrong side of road

The snarling edge to Terence Crawford is beginning to blur the silky skills he routinely displays inside the ring. A three-weight world champion who has rocketed to the top of pound-for-pound lists in recent years, the Nebraskan has evidently been irked at a lack of attention. It is a somewhat justifiable attitude, given the nastiness we have seen sprinkled on top of some of his mercurial skills, therefore making him an essential watch. Yet Crawford has been finalising his preparation for his latest world title defence in the shadows of Anthony Joshua’s seismic victory over Andy Ruiz.

And that heavyweight showdown came in the weeks following the other face of boxing: Canelo Alvarez. Crawford, for all his accolades, is still finding crossover appeal to be elusive. While his personality is not brimming with charisma, he is certainly a compelling enough character and he can also rely on the illustrious promotion of Bob Arum. So what is missing? There is arguably nothing he can do against Egidijus Kavaliauskas, AKA Mean Machine, to twist the narrative enough to become the guy in boxing.

Fighters, unlike many athletes, mostly possess control of their own destiny; pile up the victories and eventually the crowd will flock. Except the welterweight division, the sport’s glamour weight class for so long, has contrived to fence off Crawford, denying him the opportunity to make his star shine brighter.

“It really doesn’t bother me too much, as much as people think,” Crawford bristled when quizzed on his predicament in the build-up to Saturday’s fight. “I have accomplished more than all those welterweights over there except [Manny] Pacquiao.

“If you look at what I accomplished in the sport of boxing, if you look at what Errol [Spence], Keith [Thurman], Shawn [Porter], Danny Garcia, all those other welterweights have done over there. I really don’t need them. They need me.”

That last line was crushingly disappointing, even if Crawford should not assume responsibility for breaching the divide between Top Rank and Al Haymon’s star-studded collection of welterweights.

The clamour for Errol Spence, the other transcendent welterweight champion right now, to meet Crawford and prove who is the finest at 147 pounds in the post-Floyd Mayweather Jr era is a little subdued. Perhaps due to the awareness of the politics involved. Spence Jr, fortunate enough to escape a terrifying, high-speed car accident in October, would also enhance his legacy by meeting Crawford. The Texan comprehensively beat the undersized Mexican-American Mikey Garcia, revelling in the added exposure surrounding a big Latino audience and 47,000 fans at Cowboys Stadium. To then back that up by grinding out a victory in a fight-of-the-year candidate against Shawn Porter means Spence can rest up, content with the upward trajectory of his career.

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Crawford may yet be sunk by Richard Commey vs Teofimo Lopez on his undercard too, with the tremendous lightweight match-up pulling in as many eyeballs as himself. With Kavaliauskas drawing last time out against Ray Robinson, who also frustrated Josh Kelly in a draw earlier this year, Crawford should bring enough variety to the table before closing the show by demonstrating his underrated power.

It just remains a pity most are left in the darkness as to where his career goes next: a mega fight with Canelo at 160 pounds, as floated by Arum recently, is surely pure fantasy. Though departing the welterweight division in search of greater recognition is certainly plausible, if not probable as his financial demands increase with each comprehensive victory.

The situation is starting to rile Crawford, that much is clear, and it could all spill over on Saturday into a more emphatic, yet less polished victory. Then we’ll truly know who needs who.