Terence Crawford posted a photo on X of himself posing with Turki Al-Sheikh, confirming he is closing in on a deal for his mega-money fight against Canelo Alvarez in September.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
Crawford used a Royal crown emoji along with a picture of him as if seeing him as some kind of monarch after he got the fight he begged for. This fight is Crawford’s golden parachute payment for retirement. Think of it as Canelo vs. Jermell Charlo 2.0.
Is it too much for Crawford to test first against at least one killer at 168? Turki should put Crawford’s feet to the fire, telling him he has to beat David Benavidez first to get that payday against Canelo. Just let Terence fight Benavides and prove himself worthy of facing King Canelo.
Mayweather Blueprint 2.0
It’s that kind of disagreement. I just hope Turki sells him cheap at the PPV because it will be a mismatch and probably boring if Crawford follows The Mayweather plan on how he fought Alvarez in 2013. Crawford’s trainer, Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre, has already said he will follow Mayweather’s plan by ‘boxing, moving and binding’ Canelo all night. It will be very, very boring to watch. He said Crawford would follow that to a T, which would be pure eye poison.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Canelo vs. Crawford if it’s free as part of a normal DAZN subscription because it’s a circus level fight. Crawford just moved up to 154 and looked terrible, and now he’s going to move up two more divisions with no experience, no test, no title shot and no fight against Canelo. It’s a joke.
Turki needs to politely tell Crawford if he wants the money to fight Canelo, he’ll show some guts by fighting Morel or Benavides to show he deserves to be in the presence of the king. Let me be the one to tell Crawford. I’ll break it to him.
Former four-division world champion Crawford looked like an average fighter last August, moving up from 147 to 154 to challenge WBA champion Israil Madrimov for his title.
Two divisions too far
Crawford was unimpressive, having to rally late to defeat Madrimov in 12 rounds by unanimous decision. He could have easily lost that fight if Madrimov had the sense to go on the attack instead of continuing to shoot. The performance of the 40-year-old Crawford showed that he has reached a ceiling for what he is capable of doing.
If he were to move to 160 to face the killer Yanibek Alimhanuli or to 168 to face Benavides, the jig would be up. Crawford would be massacred due to the size, youth and talent of these fighters.
Fans are divided on whether giving the 37-year-old Crawford this fight against Canelo is a good thing for further degrading the sport, turning boxing into a non-sport. Obviously, in a real sport, Crawford would have to work his way past other teams to get to the top level.
There would be a season, playoffs, and then the finals. We see Crawford leapfrog all of the fighters who would probably beat him, like David Benavidez, David Morell, Diego Pacheco, Cristian Mbili and Osli Iglesias. If this was an exhibition fight, that would make sense, but it’s not.
Crawford moves up two weight classes to get an undeserved world title shot against WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight champion Canelo in September. How is that even allowed?
— Terence Crawford (@terencecrawford) January 13, 2025