Terence Crawford posted a photo on X of himself posing with Turki Al-Sheikh, confirming that he has sealed the deal for his mega-money fight against Canelo Alvarez in September.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
Crawford used a King crown emoji along with his image as if seeing him as some kind of monarch after he got the fight he begged for. This fight is Crawford’s golden parachute retirement day. Think of it as Canelo vs. Jermell Charlo 2.0.
Is it asking too much of Crawford to test himself first against at least one killer at 168? Turki should hold 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 Benavidez and prove that he is worthy of facing King Canelo.
Mayweather Draft 2.0
It’s that kind of mismatch. I just hope the Turks sell him cheap at the PPV because he will be mismatched and probably boring if Crawford follows Mayweather’s blueprint how he fought Alvarez in 2013 Crawford’s trainer, Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre, has already said he will follow Mayweather’s plan to ‘box, move and tie up’ Canelo all night. It will be very, very boring to watch. He said Crawford will follow it to a T, which will be pure eye poison.
I wouldn’t be against watching Canelo vs. Crawford if it’s free as part of a regular subscription with DAZN 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 a fight with Canelo. It’s a joke.
Turki needs to politely tell Crawford if he wants the money to fight Canelo, he’ll show some brains by fighting Morrell or Benavidez to show he deserves to be in the presence of the king. Let me be the one to tell Crawford. I’ll tell 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 make a late recovery 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 potshot. The 40-year-old Crawford’s performance showed that he has reached his ceiling for what he is capable of doing.
If he moved up to 160 to take on the killer Janibek Alimkhanuly or 168 to face Benavidez, the jig would be up. Crawford would be massacred due to the size, youth and talent of these fighters.
Fans are divided on whether this fight against Canelo is a good thing for the 37-year-old Crawford to further degrade 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 highest level.
There would be a season, playoffs, and then the final. We see Crawford jump all those jumps over fighters who would probably beat him like David Benavidez, David Morrell, Diego Pacheco, Christian Mbilli and Osleys Iglesias. If this was an exhibition fight, that would make sense, but it’s not.
Crawford moved up two weight classes to get an undeserved world title shot against WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight champion Canelo in September. How is this even allowed?
— Terence Crawford (@terencecrawford) January 13, 2025
