Fans on X collectively say Terence Crawford would have no chance against Canelo Alvarez at 168 after his lackluster performance beating Israil Madrimov at 154 last night in Los Angeles.
Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) appeared slower from weight gain, showed little power, marked up around his right eye, and didn’t have the same dominating presence as he’d shown during his five-year reign at 147 from 2018 to 2023.
Comparisons to Jermell Charlo
A year ago, former undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo moved up from 154 to 168 to fight Canelo and was overmatched in power and size, losing a one-sided decision.
Jermall was younger, stronger, and more explosive than the 36-year-old Crawford. He was not competitive against Canelo. Crawford lacks the physical tools to fight at 168 against a talent like Canelo, and it wouldn’t be fair to the boxing public to see such a poor matchup with a predictable outcome.
It would be a money grab and provide little value to the fans unless the undercard was staked with talent like we saw last night. Given how large the purses would be for Crawford and Canelo, it’s unlikely that His Excellency Turki Alalshikh could afford to bundle the celebrity-esque fight with an outstanding undercard.
Crawford’s Controversial Decision Adds to Doubt
Many fans saw Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) winning and felt that was a textbook example of a popular fighter, Crawford, being given an unjust decision. There’s no dispute that Madrimov landed the harder, more eye-catching shots in most rounds.
His Excellency Turki Alalshikh will decide whether Crawford faces Canelo next in the first quarter of 2025. He’s got the money to encourage Canelo to take that fight, but it will require a hefty offer for him to accomplish that.
Canelo isn’t excited about fighting an aging 37-year-old Crawford, especially after his mediocre performance. It would be a different story if Crawford moved up first to 168 and beat someone, but he repeatedly said he wants the Canelo title shot for the money and legacy. In other words, Crawford wants a straight title shot against Canelo in his first fight at 168.
Eddie Hearn’s view
“He can’t fight at 168. Canelo would mow right through him,” said Eddie Hearn to the Stomping Grounds channel on Terence Crawford, lacking the talent to move up two weight divisions to fight super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez following the struggles he had last Saturday night against WBA Junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov.
Crawford is too much of a pure boxer in the Mayweather mold and doesn’t throw enough punches to have a chance of beating Canelo Alvarez at 168.
Moving up to 154 slowed Crawford down, but going up an additional two divisions to 168 would further diminish his speed. It’s what you always see when a fighter packs on weight. They’re slower, easily tired, and don’t throw as much. We saw that with
“He should try to fight the big names at 154. Ortiz or Boots, but he don’t beat Boots on that performance,” Hearn continued about Crawford. “It was a tactical fight [Crawford vs. Madrimov], a bit of a chess matching.”
Crawford didn’t want to admit after the fight that he got lucky, as the three judges gave him a questionable victory over Madrimov. He lost in the public’s eyes; they’re the deciders, not the judges. They know how the sport is run and don’t trust judges to decide winners.
“He knows that guy lost, so does his team, and so does he,” said Crawford, talking at the post-fight press conference in response to being told that Israil Madrimov thought he won.
Fans judge who wins a fight, and they didn’t see Crawford as the winner, which hurt his popularity because he didn’t shine for the first time.
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