Trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre says Terence Crawford was willing to fight Canelo Alvarez without a rehydration clause because he doesn’t feel he needs them to prove that “best.” BoMac says Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) wants to “show the world” he’s the best fighter.
Payday
Fans see it as nastiness and that Crawford’s real reason for wanting to fight Canelo is the big payday he will receive. This assertion that he’s the “best” garbage BoMac spouts sounds like nonsense when you consider that Crawford has no interest in proving himself at 168.
The fighters fight the best competitors in the weight classes before challenging the champion. Crawford skips that part by going straight to a title fight against Canelo.
In reality, Crawford, 37, couldn’t dictate terms with superstar Canelo the way he could with Errol Spence. If Terence had insisted on making weight to fight Canelo, he would have gotten nowhere and would have been stuck fighting dangerous young fighters at 154 for a lot less money.
Crawford might have been able to avoid defeat if he had fought WBC/WBO junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora. However, he would probably lose if he went up against any of the middleweight killers like Vergil Ortiz, Serghii Bohachuk or Bakhram Murtazalev. The game would be up for Crawford, as he would be exposed and his value in the sport would be diminished.
Canelo-Crawford still hasn’t been officially announced, but it will likely happen in September on Mexico’s Independence Day holiday weekend. It would be interesting if Turki Al-Sheikh threw a spanner in the works for Crawford by insisting that he beat one of the top super middleweights to earn a fight against Canelo, rather than just being given it based on what he’s done throughout his career.
Canelo took Crawford up in arms last week saying he was beaten “One good fighter” throughout his 17-year professional career, which was Errol Spence after a car accident. BoMac didn’t have much to say about that comment other than echoing what Crawford said with his rebuttal about how they were somebody until he made them look like a “nobody” by beating them. However, Crawford’s resume is devoid of quality opposition. He beat a lot of good fighters, never great or elite level.
Canelo was just saying it like it was about Crawford sliding through a long career without taking any risks. Terence can’t blame his promoters for not being able to arrange fights for him because if he had moved up to 154, 160 or 168, he would have had plenty of opportunities for big fights throughout his career.
If Crawford wanted big fights in the last 17 years, he could have moved up and fought middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin while he was still around. I don’t think it would have ended well for Crawford, but he could have done it. The lack of risk talk was never present with Crawford as it was with Canelo. That’s why Bud has only “one good fighter” in his resume, the corrupt Spence.
If I were Canelo, I’d make Terence deserve the fight by going up against the winner of the David Benavidez vs. David Morrell fight. That would give Crawford a big enough fight to build his name to where Canelo would be given a pass by the boxing world for fighting him.
Fans will be jumping on the Mexican star as he fights another guy coming up two weight classes to fight him for a big payday without earning it. Two years ago, Jermell Charlo moved up from 154 to face Canelo for his titles at 168, and the fight was a complete mismatch due to Alvarez’s strength advantage. It will be even worse with Crawford because he is smaller and weaker than Jermell.
BoMac: No stipulations required
“I think Crawford’s rebuttal was that everybody always says, ‘Oh, he didn’t fight anybody’ or ‘everyone he fought was no name,’ but I’ll put it this way. What Crawford said, ‘Well, they were something’ until Crawford fought them,” trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre told Social boxingresponding to Canelo Alvarez saying that Terence Crawford has only fought one good fighter in his career, Errol Spence.
“So, obviously it is [Crawford] he does a great job of making everyone look normal. That’s what Crawford wants. He wants to show the world that he is the best. Why set conditions when you know you can be the best? So let’s go test ourselves,” BoMac said of Crawford agreeing to fight Canelo at 168 without a rehydration clause.
