Turki Alalshikh said he’s delivered an offer to WBA junior-middleweight champion Terence Crawford to fight unbeaten Vergil Ortiz Jr., adding, “I don’t think” Crawford will accept it.
“I don’t think Crawford will fight anyone but Canelo (Alvarez). This is my opinion,” Alalshikh told Charlie Parsons on “The Stomping Ground” podcast Friday. “We give (Crawford) offer for Ortiz. I don’t think he will take it. He only wants Canelo.”
That’s one major stance by the unbeaten four-division champion from Nebraska who’s coming off a narrow unanimous-decision victory over former 154-pound champion Israil Madrimov in Los Angeles Aug. 3, when Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) needed to win the final two rounds to gain the decision.
Unlike his four-knockdown destruction of three-belt welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. in July 2023, Crawford confronted an entirely more problematic challenge in moving up to 154 pounds and meeting Uzbekistan’s Madrimov.
There never appeared to be a moment that Crawford hurt or even backed up Madrimov.
And now he wants to move up two more divisions to meet a fellow four-division champion whom he’s battled for pound-for-pound supremacy over the past decade?
Alvarez expressed disinterest in that match as recently as last week during his press tour hyping his Sept. 14 unified super-middleweight title defense against unbeaten Edgar Berlanga.
And Alvarez has also been dismissive of working with Alalshikh.
So the odds seem stacked against Crawford.
Before Alalshikh’s Friday revelation, Crawford’s choice for a next bout seemed to have crystalized: Win two fights and become the first undisputed three-division champion of the four-belt era, or go after another deposit from the deep well of Saudi Arabian money by fighting Ortiz.
As a World Boxing Organization “super” champion, Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) has been afforded the privilege of invoking a title shot at unified (WBO/World Boxing Council) 154-pound champion Sebastian Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs).
The WBO previously informed Fundora he must fight Crawford by year’s end, or he will be stripped of his belt.
However, Alalshikh appeared at the entertaining Saturday victory by Ortiz Jr. over Ukraine’s Serhii Bohachuk by majority decision and said he wants to see Ortiz (22-0, 21 KOs) versus Crawford, with Crawford trainer Robert Garcia telling BoxingScene his fighter can ideally be ready for a February date that Alalshikh has booked at his Riyadh Season venue in Saudi Arabia.
As Crawford turns 37 next month, the clock is obviously ticking as the time window shrinks for him to maximize his earnings, and he has clearly enjoyed being closely aligned to Alalshikh.
“The world is his oyster. Terence Crawford can do whatever he wants,” former welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi said on Thursday’s episode of ProBox TV’s “Top Stories.”I’d prefer him versus Fundora and to let Ortiz and Bohachuk rematch each other, but it seems that Turki Alalshikh is a bit smitten with Ortiz, and he’s a bit smitten with Crawford … so that’s probably the way it’s going to go.”
Ensuring a Saudi Arabia-funded pay day is one thing, but fighting the powerful Ortiz, 26, does complicate the challenge of Crawford sweeping all the belts at 154 pounds, as the former lightweight champion previously did at 140 pounds and as a welterweight.
If Crawford ultimately gives up the ghost of a Canelo fight, does he risk a course that would require three more fights to become undisputed at 154 pounds, or does he deemphasize the need to achieve such glory in the name of the almighty dollar?
If Fundora were to successfully defend his belts and the favored former 154-pound champion Tim Tszyu recaptures the division’s IBF belt on Oct. 19 against Russia’s Bakhram Murtazaliev, Crawford would be staring at three title bouts against Ortiz, Fundora and Tszyu.
“I don’t know if he’s interested in doing the long-term route like he did in the lower weight classes of collecting all the belts,” former 140-pound champion Chris Algieri said on “Top Stories.”
Crawford has admitted his pursuit of unified 168-pound champion Alvarez is financially driven: “If the money’s right, make the fight.”
While it’s believed representatives from all sides are huddling to navigate the proper path, Fundora wouldn’t mind Crawford waiting for Canelo or moving to Ortiz since Fundora has an opportunity to stage a lucrative and more favorable fight against Spence at AT&T Stadium in the fall.
“If it’s what Turki Alalshikh wants, I don’t think anybody’s going to get into any bidding wars there,” Malignaggi said. “I don’t think (Crawford-Ortiz) is the best matchup to be made … a good portion of people believe Bohachuk beat Ortiz. So can Ortiz beat Crawford? I don’t know. … But who’s going to complain? You get Crawford versus Ortiz, it’s still a very interesting, good fight.”
After years of feeling underappreciated while fighting under the Top Rank banner, what’s certain is that Crawford has embraced the way he’s supported by Alalshikh.
“Crawford’s in the driver’s seat. He’s got all the control,” Algieri said Thursday, before Friday’s news broke. “It seems to me if it’s not making dollars (for him), it’s not making sense. He’s looking for big-time money.
“He’s looking at the biggest payouts possible and if that’s the case, we’re looking at Vergil Ortiz because Turki Alalshikh seems to have it in his head that that’s the best fight to make right now – and he’s willing to take out the checkbook to make that possible. And Vergil Ortiz is not going to pass up that opportunity.”
Crawford is taking his sweet time to decide. He’s currently on a family vacation.
“There’s no specific deadline,” a WBO official said. “We’re waiting on Team Crawford.”
Whether it’s a stubborn wait for Canelo or the legacy flex of standing as a three-division undisputed champion, Algieri assesses that Crawford’s reputation is already secure.
“Crawford has shown he’s willing to fight anyone in and around his weight class,” Algieri said. “At this point in his career, he’s looking for dollars. Whatever fight is going to pay the most money is probably the route he’s going to choose.”
He’s now made that clear.
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