Terence Crawford may need to make another incremental move up in weight if he fails to get picked out by Canelo Alvarez for his next fight in May 2025.
For Terence to help improve his chances of getting a fight with Canelo, he’ll have to move up to 160 and take on Janibek Alimkhanuly (16-0, 11 KOs) for his IBF and WBO middleweight titles.
Too Far Apart
Crawford should move up one division and prove himself against a top dog rather than go up two, and it is too much of a jump.
Janibek, 5’10”, might be too big and too strong for Crawford. But he’s going to have to do something if Canelo chooses not to fight him in May 2025.
If Crawford stays at 154, he will be dismissed by Canelo as being too far from his weight class, and he won’t receive credit for fighting someone at 154. That’s Canelo’s main argument for not fighting Crawford.
He’s two divisions below him, and only recently moved up to 154. Staying at junior middleweight will lead to fan pressure on Crawford to fight the other belt-holders, like IBF champion Bakhram Muratazaliev and WBC and WBO champion Sebastian Fundora. Those guys could beat him, and that would be the end of any chances of Crawford getting a fight against Canelo.
Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) moved to 154 last August after spending five years at 147, capturing all the belts to become undisputed welterweight champion in 2023.
The Nebraska native Ternce hopes that Turki Alalshikh will be able to line up the fight with Canelo, but that may not happen. Turki may soon discover he’s met a fighter that he can’t direct into the fights that he wants.
Alvarez is already super wealthy, with over $250 million net worth. He’s not someone who can lured with money into taking fights that he’s not interested in, especially when it involves a smaller guy who has already made it known that he’s going to use movement to try and win a decision against him.
160? 😎🙂 pic.twitter.com/HtqQBFIro3
— Janibek Alimkhanuly (@qazaqstyle) August 4, 2024
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