Terence Crawford is trying to make his case for being deserving of a fight against superstar Canelo Alvarez in December or January. Crawford is on that campaign trail, trying to get the Canelo payday fight, but he’s going to have to pump the brakes.
His Excellency Turki Alalshikh reportedly wants to schedule a fight between Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) and undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs) for later this year or early 2025.
Step 1: Win a Real Fight
Crawford still has to win his fight against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on August 3rd before he can be considered for a fight against Canelo. That would be Crawford’s first real risky fight since his match against Yuriorkis Gamboa in 2014.
The Mexican star is going to be fighting in September, against possibly Edgar Berlanga or Jermall Charlo. There’s no way of knowing if Canelo wins those fights. Berlanga looks like a light heavyweight in size, and he can punch.
Jermall Charlo was one of the best middleweight fighters before he took a three-year vacation. If he can regain his former form, he could upset Canelo.
Both fighters have fights that could prevent them from meeting soon, and there are also the issues involved in trying to negotiate.
If Crawford drags out the talks for an entire year, as we saw with the Errol Spence clash, that won’t fly with Canelo. He’ll move on rather than waste time trying to haggle with the B-side Crawford.
Pound-for-Pound…Maybe Not
“You got two of the top fighters of this decade, not just in the past year or so. You got two fighters that have been at the top for the past ten years,” said Terence Crawford to ESPN, talking about him and Canelo Alvarez.
“You got the No.1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and No.1 money man.”
Some boxing fans are as convinced of his pound-for-pound status as they are about aliens living on Mars.
It’s a subjective thing, but many fans believe that Crawford is too inactive to be viewed as the top guy.
When you fight only once a year, like Crawford, and your last four opponents were nothing special due to age, ring wear, inactivity, and car crashes, it’s hard to view him as the #1 pound-for-pound fighter.
Crawford’s last six fights:
– Errol Spence: Post car crash
– David Avanesyan: Fringe contender
– Shawn Porter: At the end of his career
– Kell Brook: Post Gennadiy Golovkin beatdown
– Egidijus Kavaliauskas: Bottom fringe contender
– Amir Khan: Washed
Crawford hasn’t exactly been fighting murderers’ row competition in the last six years, so his touting himself as #1 pound-for-pound is hard to swallow. Some of those guys were good before they got old, washed up, and ruined by car wrecks. By the time Crawford fought them, they were null & void.