Danny Jacobs, former middleweight champion, believes Terence Crawford has the technical skills to allow him to bridge the gap to defeat the bigger, stronger, undisputed 168-lb champion Canelo Alvarez next year.
Jacobs feels that former three-division world champion Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) has enough talent to move up two divisions from 154 to compete with Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs) at 168 in 2025.
First, Crawford must win his fight against Israil Madrimov, the WBA junior middleweight champion, on August 3rd at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. Jacobs sees this as a “Tough” fight for Crawford because of the power and talent of Madrimov, who is bigger and stronger than anyone Bud has faced during his 16-year career.
Crawford’s Age and Weight Jump
Jacobs didn’t mention Crawford’s age factor because he turns 37 in September and isn’t the spring chicken he once was. The Nebraska native Crawford is about the same age as Jacobs, who is also seen past his prime. It’s late in the game for Crawford to be taking an adventurous move up in weight, especially with him coming off a long 1+ year layoff.
“Skills sometimes pay the bills, and we know that Crawford has the skills or Canelo,” said Danny Jacobs to Fight Hub TV about Terence Crawford having the technical skills to defeat the bigger, undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez when or if they fight in 2025.
Crawford’s Upcoming Test Against Madrimov
Skills do often pay off for fighters who compete out of their natural weight class, but this is a tremendous jump in weight for Crawford from his last contest at 147 against Errol Spence on July 29, 2023. It’s 21 pounds that Crawford would be going up in weight from welterweight to super middleweight. Although Crawford is fighting at 154 against Madrimov on August 3rd, it’s still 14 pounds that he’ll jump up to face Canelo in 2025.
Ideally, Crawford should stop at 160 and fight someone in a transition contest to make the move up in weight easier on him. The perfect fight for Crawford at middleweight would be with IBF/WBO champion Janibek Alimkhanuly. If Crawford wins that fight, he could move to 168 to challenge Canelo for his four belts.
“Sometimes power, weight, and experience in that. So, it’ll be a good test for Crawford, but the fans are the winner in that particular fight if it pans out,” Jacobs continued about the Canelo vs. Crawford match.
A Money Grab or a Legitimate Contest?
Without Crawford fighting someone at 160 or 168 to show that he can compete with fighters in those two weight classes, a fight between him and Canelo seems more like a money-grab, circus-level fight like fans saw with British heavyweights Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury fighting former UFC champion Francis Ngannou.
For it to have sporting value, Crawford should fight someone highly ranked at 168, like David Benavidez, David Morrell, or Christian Mbilli, before taking on Canelo. It’s not fair to the paying fans for Crawford to move up two weight classes to challenge Canelo for the undisputed championship without at least beating someone notable at 168 to prove he rates a title shot.
“But Crawford has a tough one now [WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on August 3rd],” said Jacobs. “I’m going to be in the building supporting him on that night. I’m a big fan of his, and I’m looking forward to all he accomplishes.”
It will be interesting to see what approach Crawford uses for his fight against Madrimov because if he stands in the pocket against him as he did in his last two contests against Errol Spence and David Avanesyan. Those guys are nowhere near the talent level, power, or youth that Madrimov possesses.
“That’s a possibility. We’ve seen it time and time again, and we’ve seen the opposite way,” said Jacobs about Crawford having the skills to bridge the gap to make up for his lack of size and power against Canelo.
Crawford’s Approach and the Mayweather Blueprint
Crawford could follow the Floyd Mayweather Jr. blueprint for beating Canelo by jabbing, throwing potshots and moving for twelve rounds, but that would be boring for the fans. With Canelo’s popularity, the judges aren’t likely to give Crawford the decision if he’s not sitting down on his shots.
Erislandy Lara came up empty against Canelo when he followed Mayweather’s blueprint, jabbed, and moved for twelve rounds. The judges gave Canelo the win because his shots were cleaner and had more power. If Crawford chooses to trade with Canelo, the risk of getting caught with a big shot and knocked out will be high.
168 will be another new division for Crawford, and he’s very old to be making that kind of a jump up in weight. Again, the year that Crawford has been out of the ring, celebrating his biggest career win against Spence may hurt him when he fights against Madrimov.
If Crawford takes another year off after the Madrimov fight, which is a real possibility given his track record of competing only once a year, it will hurt his chances of beating Canelo.
“Tyson Fury, he was actually a lighter guy in the amateurs, and he grew up to be a fast heavyweight, and so he was able to adjust. It’s about seeing, it’s about knowing, and it’s about actually getting there and experience. But this will be a good test for Crawford this upcoming Madrimov [fight],” said Jacobs.
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