As Terence Crawford prepares to make the move from welterweight to 154lbs, he remains adamant on getting his shot at Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez another two divisions up.
Formerly undisputed 140 and 147 and a champion at 135, ‘Bud’ Crawford is looking to further build his case as an all time great by challenging Israel Madrimov at 154 for the WBA and WBO world titles.
If he wins and his intentions remain the same as they have over the last twelve months, he will continue calling out currently undisputed – but reportedly not for long – 168 champion Canelo.
It’s something Bob Arum, who promoted ‘Bud’ before a nasty split, would advise against.
In a video shared by FightHype, the 92-year-old veteran promoter was firmly in the camp that the weight jump is too much of an ask for the smaller man.
“I think Canelo wipes the floor with him. I love Crawford, I told you with Crawford and Spence that Crawford would beat the hell out of him, but Canelo is a different proposition. It’s an interesting fight, but I think there’s only one winner.”
Despite Canelo’s dismissal of the fight, Turki Alalshikh – the man behind the boxing boom in Saudi Arabia – has expressed his interest, which means there will likely be a substantial offer on the table soon.
In the meantime, Crawford has Madrimov to worry about. The Uzbek fighter is undefeated in ten and recently stopped Magomed Kurbanov to win the WBA belt. He welcomes Crawford to super-welterweight on August 3 in Los Angeles.
As for Canelo, he doesn’t currently have a fight scheduled but is expected to return in September.