Canelo Alvarez made it clear this week that he’s not ready to commit to any fight for September despite being pushed by Turki Alalshikh to name Terence Crawford as his next opponent.
The unified three-belt super middleweight champion Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) has his fight against IBF 168-lb champion William Scull (23-0, 9 KOs) ahead of him on May 3rd at The Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The 168 Pool
If Canelo rejects Turki’s choice of opponent for his fight in September, he has several excellent options.
– Diego Pachecko
– Janibek Alimkhanuly
– Christian Mbilli
– David Morrell
– Jaron Ennis
– Hamzah Sheeraz
– Osleys Iglesias
Most if not all of those fighters would beat Crawford just based on size, youth, power, and activity. Some of them would likely beat Alvarez, which wouldn’t make Turki happy, considering he recently signed the Mexican star to a four-fight contract. What do you expect from a 35-year-old fighter who hasn’t taken a real challenge in three years since losing to Dmitry Bivol.
“I like to be active. We don’t have a fight in September. We have this fight, and then we will see,” said Canelo Alvarez during this week’s press conference in New York City, letting the media and fans know that his opponent for his September fight is still up in the air.
A Lazy Approach
Canelo would be letting Turki know whose boss if he trips things up on him by choosing not to fight one of his favorite boxers, Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs), who has done jack to earn the ight by choosing to move up to 168 to take on one of the contenders.
Crawford is taking a lazy approach to being given a payday. He sits inactive, bulks up slowly by power-feeding, waiting for that day that he fights Canelo.
Surprisingly, Turki hasn’t insisted that Crawford prove himself against at least one super middleweight contender before being given a fight against Canelo. It’s not even sporting when you see a fighter jump two divisions ahead of contenders to challenge a world champion. Crawford should at least be expected to fight someone like Osleys Iglesias to show that he can cut it at 168.
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