Terence Crawford used the spotlight to call out superstar Canelo Alvarez last night following his win over previously unbeaten WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. ‘Bud’ Crawford says he’ll fight WBA/WBC/WBO super middleweight champion Canelo next if “the money is right.”
Crawford’s comment about the money needing to be right suggests that he’s not feeling confident about fighting Canelo because, obviously, the money would be right.
A Rematch to Prove Worth?
It could be a signal that Crawford, 36, recognizes that he didn’t perform well against Madrimov and needs to look more impressive against someone else to strengthen his negotiating position for a mega-fight against Canelo because that was not the ideal performance for him to enter talks with the Mexican star.
Crawford should rematch Madrimov and show fans that he can beat him decisively, but I don’t think he can.
If anything, Madrimov will be better in the rematch, and the judges will give him the victory, especially after the backlash from Crawford’s questionable decision last Saturday night.
The Need to Enhance Bargaining Power
What Crawford needs is a knockout win over one of these fighters to give him a better bargaining position for favorable terms against Canelo:
– Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis
– Sebastian Fundora
– Serhii Bohachuk
– Tim Tszyu
– Vergil Ortiz
His Excellency Turki Alalshikh wants the Canelo vs. Crawford fight next and will reportedly offer Alvarez a fight if he’s victorious in his title defense next month against Edgar Berlanga on September 14th.
It’s questionable whether Crawford can make the weight jump to 168 without being affected by adding pounds and facing a harder puncher with a more aggressive style than he faced last Saturday night against Madrimov.
In the fight last night, Crawford appeared slower than he’d been at 147, and he took a lot of right hands from Madrimov. Those punches thrown by a guy like Canelo would be disastrous for Crawford.
Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) kept his unbeaten record intact, capturing a fourth division world title with a closer-than-expected twelve-round unanimous decision over Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs), winning by the scores 116-112, 115-113, and 115-113.
Chris Mannix: “Is Canelo Alvarez the fight you want next?”
Terence Crawford: “If the money is right, we got a fight, but at the same time, he’s got a fight that he’s focused on. I’m going to relax, enjoy this win, and enjoy all the accomplishments that I made in the sport of boxing.”
“That’s a question for Terence. For me, 168 is a huge jump, and you’re talking about someone of the size of Canelo Alvarez,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to the media at the post-fight press conference last night when asked about whether Terence Crawford can move up to super middleweight and beat champion Canelo Alvarez.
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