Terence Crawford’s trainer, Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre, is confident that his fighter can move up three weight classes to fight Canelo Alvarez after their match against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on August 3rd in Los Angeles.
BoMac states that it won’t be a problem for a “superior fighter like Crawford” about his ability to shoot up from 154 after just one fight to 168 to challenge Canelo for his undisputed super middleweight championship with no experience in the division.
Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) might not get to the Canelo fight because he’s got a tough fight against Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) in his first fight at 154 after a 1+ year layoff.
The 36-year-old Crawford is assuming he’ll be able to do at junior middleweight against Madrimov, which he did at 135, 140, and 147, but against lesser opposition with nowhere near the same power.
If Crawford loses to Madrimov, there will be a lot of second-guessing about his decision to take this kind of a fight after a 13-month layoff without getting acclimated in the division first with a series of tune-ups.
He’s breaking all the rules for how successful fighters normally direct their careers, but there’s a certain sense of overconfidence and greed involved with Crawford. He wants that Canelo paydays as fast as possible, so he’s taking major risks to get it.
He’s running through a minefield to try and get that pot of gold on the other side, hoping he doesn’t step on one. On August 3rd, his greed could backfire on him, with Madrimov knocking him out, derailing his Canelo dream.
If His Excellency Turki Alalshikh still wants to give Crawford the Canelo fight despite his loss, he can do that, but it would be a bad look because Americans would see it as pathetic.
“The biggest thing is Madrimov. That’s what’s in front of us. I know Terence’s mind is set on getting that 154 title,” said Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre to Fight Hub TV about Terence Crawford wanting to dethrone WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov before he gets to a potential clash against Canelo Alvarez.
It’s wise that BoMac isn’t looking past Madrimov because this is a different type of fighter than the guys that Crawford has been fighting at 147 and 140.
Boxing analyst Tim Bradley said in an interview today that Madrimov is a Jeff Horn clone and that Crawford will easily beat him just like he did the Australian six years ago in 2018.
Even if Bradley was right about Madrimov being a clone of Horn, Crawford isn’t 30 years old any longer like he was back then in 2018. He turns 37 in September, and he’s not as active as he was back then. He fights once a year, he’s coming off a long layoff, and his opponent is vastly superior to Horn.
“As far as Canelo goes, if it comes on his radar, I’m sure he’d entertain it after this fight [Madrimov],” said BoMac. “I wouldn’t mind fighting him, and I know Terence wouldn’t mind fighting him. The attention is on Madrimov,” BoMac continued about the focus for Crawford.
Of course, BoMac wants the Canelo fight for Crawford. The money BoMac would make as the trainer would be a fortune for that fight, and it won’t matter if Crawford gets cooked by Canelo in a fight similar to Alvarez’s match against Jermell Charlo. The money BoMac would make from Crawford’s fight against Canelo would set him up for life.
Crawford wouldn’t deserve the fight, and his chances of beating Canelo would be nil, even with the same tactics he used against Horn: a lot of moving and excessive holding.
“We’ll see when we cross that bridge. We’ll see if he can do all that when it comes to superior fighter like Terence,” said BoMac about his belief that Crawford is superior.
“It started a couple of months ago. I think Turki Alalshikh approached Bud or something like that. Then I think his name came up,” said BoMac, explaining how the Madrimov fight came about for Crawford to fight him on August 3rd. “I knew he wanted to go up to 154 to get a title, and I think he was available around that time.”
So there it is. His Excellency is the one who wants Crawford to fight Madrimov. Crawford didn’t come up with the idea himself, and it’s understandable because it’s a risky fight for him. The last thing Crawford wants is a risky fight that he could lose, which would ruin his chances of getting that bag fighting Canelo.
That’s why Crawford fled the 147-lb division without fighting Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis. He didn’t want to lose potentially. But with His Excellency wanting him to fight Madrimov, he likely had no choice but to take it to stay in good with him to get the Canelo fight.
“It’s smooth. We did some minor changes as far as strength-wise. Terence is already strong, but we wanted to get him stronger,” said BoMac when asked about how the transition has been for Crawford, going up to 154. “I’m looking for a dominant performance out of that, too.”
BoMac didn’t say who Crawford sparred with to show he’s ready to fight Madrimov. We know he trained with 40-year-old Andre Ward, but he doesn’t count because he looked fat and out of shape.
“We had Andre Ward come to the gym and hang out a little bit and give Bud some pointers on what to expect in a higher weight class. Plus, they’re good friends, too,” said BoMac.
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