Canelo Alvarez says he saw enough of what Terence Crawford is all about in his last fight against Israil Madrimov at 154 to know that it would be an “easy fight” for him if they met at 168. However, Canelo reiterates that a fight with Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) will only happen if his price is met, which he previously said was $150 million.
(Credit: Rey Del Rio/Premier Boxing Champions)
Crawford is still hoping the Canelo fight will be next, but the only person on planet Earth who can deliver that golden parachute retirement payday for the Nebraska native is His Excellency Turki Alalshikh. The price tag for Alvarez may be too high for even him.
Whatever Canelo asks for, Crawford would also want a sizeable check, and it doesn’t balance out in the end. Assuming Turki indulges Canelo by giving him the $150 million smackers, Crawford would probably want some of that, believing he rates $75 million. He’d want to wet his beak on some of that cash, too.
Ultimately, this isn’t a Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao type of fight in which revenue would be pulled in massive numbers. Mayweather-Pacquiao grossed $600 million for their fight on May 2, 2015, but those two fighters were proven PPV attractions.
Crawford has never shown to be a PPV draw. He’s only had one successful PPV event against Errol Spence in July 2023. That fight brought in 700,000 buys. Before that, Crawford’s highest PPV fight was against Amir Khan, bringing in just 150,000 buys.
His Excellency Turki would be better off focusing on lining up Canelo against the winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol fight because that would have a better chance of bringing in revenue than a Canelo-Crawford fight.
“What we saw in his last fight with him [Israil Madrimov]. That’s why there are weight classes. That’s what I think. It’s an easy fight for me,” said Canelo Alvarez to the Manouk Akopyan YouTube channel when asked why he feels a fight between him and Terence Crawford would be easy.
Crawford did not look good at all in his debut at 154 on August 3r against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov. He barely beat Madrimov, and looked weak, and very old at 36.
Unlike 39-year-old Beterbiev, who is a massive puncher with an outstanding inside game, Crawford is more of a speed fighter who wins by outboxing his opponents. Those types of fighters don’t do well when they hit their mid-30s, especially when they’re as inactive as Crawford.
“He’s moving a lot; he’s a good fighter and a good boxer. He’s going to be complicated in the first three rounds or four rounds, but then I figure him out, and that’s what I think,” said Canelo about how a potential fight with Crawford would play out.
Canelo might even get to Crawford in the first two or three rounds with his power shots because he won’t let him jab from the distance without countering. That’s all Crawford did against Madrimov: jab and move around, making it a boring chess match. Canelo won’t put up with that dull stuff without clocking Crawford.
“Could be, why not? We are in boxing,” said Canelo when asked if he could potentially fight Crawford, David Benavidez, and the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol fight winner. “You know already. I’ve already told you,” said Canelo on the asking price for him to agree to fight those guys. “You know the answer, buddy.”
Canelo is saying here that he’s not going to entertain any of those fights unless he’s given $100 million to $200 million, and it doesn’t seem realistic. David Benavidez is fighting at 175, and he looked awful in his debut in that weight class recently. He shouldn’t even be up for discussion.
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