Crawford’s Next Fight: Al-Sheikh Orders ‘Be Ready’ – But Against Whom?

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Turki Al-Sheikh told Terence Crawford that “be ready” for his next fight. He’s not saying who or when the Nebraska native will fight for his “next fight.” Crawford said, “Call me.”

Ideally, this would mean that Turki would force Crawford to earn his retirement against Canelo Alvarez by insisting he fight the winner of David Benavidez vs. David Morrell.

Next move

That’s the way it should be because in order for a match against Canelo to look more credible, Crawford must first fight at 168 against one of the top guys. If this was war, Crawford would have to do something brave earn these battle ribbons to be a decorated soldier:

– Medal of Honor
– Distinguished Service Cross

You don’t get it military medals because he did the bare minimum, as Crawford does, going from a narrow, lackluster win over Israil Madrimov to 154 straight to a golden parachute retirement against Canelo. No, it shouldn’t be like that. If Terence wants his military medals, he must fight these battles to prove he deserves to wear them on his chest during parades in Omaha, Nebraska:

– David Benavidez
– David Morrell
– Christian Mbilli
– Dmitry Bivol
– Artur Beterbiev
– Diego Pacheco

What Terence wants are medals without having earned them in the war. You can’t respect that. It’s weak and not right. If he wants to be next Audie Murphyhe must earn his ribbons of war.

Crawford must earn a fight against Canelo Alvarez by walking through real battlefield conditions, taking bullets and shrapnel and facing the horrors of combat to earn the honor of being in the ring with the king of the sport.

Turki Al-Sheikh needs to call Crawford and tell him he needs to do something bold to have a chance to realistically shape his legacy, not just get a big payday so he can go back to Omaha with his money after he loses.

The soon-to-be 38-year-old Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) only fights once a year. So if he continues with his minimalist schedule, his next fight will be in September against Canelo Alvarez. That’s assuming Turki doesn’t insist that the Canelo-Crawford fight take place over the Cinco de Mayo holiday weekend this May.