Terence Crawford insists Teofimo Lopez must continue his winning ways before a showdown can be made.
Crawford recently became a four-weight world champion beating Israil Madrimov on points to capture the WBO world super-welterweight title.
Crawford has made a new fight offer to LopezEd Mulholland/Matchroom
He is yet to pencil in his next fight and is hot property with a number of potential options on the table including a potential mega-money clash with Canelo Alvarez.
A fighter who has pleaded with Crawford to make a showdown is super-lightweight Lopez who would need to bulk up to secure the clash.
But ‘Bud’ has insisted that Lopez needs to beat Madrimov himself in order to set proceedings up.
Crawford suggested on Twitter: “You fight and beat Israil Madrimov next, I’ll whoop your ass next, bet? Now let’s see how much you wanna fight.”
Lopez has since responded with his own offer, adding: “Laugh now, Cry later. @terencecrawford I’ll fight you for free.
“Destroying your legacy is worth more than money to me.”
The pair are unlikely to meet in the near future unless Lopez puts on weight, given Crawford has been looking up in terms of weight categories.
The 154lbs champion is willing to put on 14lbs to move up to super-middleweight, but is unlikely to boil down to Lopez’s current weight meaning a switch would be neccessary.
Lopez has spoken about moving to 147lbs to take on a welterweight challenge, but only time will tell if a fight can be made.
A rivalry has been boiling over on social media, which the pair will feel may need to be settled.
Lopez has his eyes on a huge clash, but will have to work for itGetty
The pair even confronted each other at Canelo Alvarez’s win over Edgar Berlanga when they met ringside, a sign that things are reaching fever pitch.
And ‘The Takeover’ believes there is obvious reasons why he’d beat his potential rival if they do meet in the ring.
“It’s not about that, it’s about how you dissect it, how you’re able to range it,” he said.
“Guys with long arms, it takes them a longer time to bring it back.
“So, in those moments when they’re trying to bring those punches back, you’ve got your moment to take advantage of it.
“Look, I fought Josh Taylor. Long a** arms. I took advantage of that. And Crawford is very wide.
“Y’all don’t see it. Y’all don’t see it. Crawford’s always been long and lanky.”