Keyshawn Davis, the lightweight contender, says Terence Crawford will for sure get the fight against Canelo Alvarez next year if he’s victorious against Israil Madrimov on August 3rd and will knock out the Mexican fighter.
Davis feels it’s a given that Crawford will beat Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) without problems and then move up two weight classes to defeat Canelo at 168.
Keyshawn shares the same trainer as Crawford, Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre, so there might be a little bit of bias and wishful thinking on his part when it comes to what he believes Terence (40-0, 31 KOs) is capable of doing.
Fans would give the 36-year-old Crawford more of a chase against Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs_ was willing to go up to 168 to prove himself first against one of the top contenders like David Benavidez rather than just going up for the payday opportunity.
That kind of a jump makes it look like Crawford is doing it for the money, and the fans will be ripped off like they were when Jermell Charlo, a bigger puncher than Crawford, moved up from 154 to 168 and was no match for Canelo last year. It was just a money grab, and Jermell hasn’t been seen since.
“I think they will fight, especially after Crawford looks good against his opponent [Madrimov] right here,” said Keyshawn Davis to Fight Hub TV, predicting that Canelo Alvarez will want to fight Terence Crawford next year after he looks good beating WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on August 3rd.
If Crawford looks good against a 154-pounder with 11 pro fights under his belt, Madrimov it doesn’t mean he deserves to move up 168, skipping the 160-lb division entirely and moving to the head of the line to challenge Canelo for his undisputed super middleweight championship.
Crawford proving himself against one fighter at 154 doesn’t mean he’s proven worthy to fight Canelo at 168. That’s a money grab. Only someone simple would view that as Crawford proving himself.
“After that, it’s almost going to be mandatory for them [Canelo & Crawford] to fight,” said Keyshawn. “Two men have to want to fight each other. It can’t just be one man. After Crawford proves himself [at 154], Canelo should be up for it.”
Keyshawn has things twisted in his head. Crawford beating Madrimov at 154 doesn’t make him mandatory at 168. He can use that title to get a shot at maybe 160, but not 168. There won’t be a demand for Crawford to hop the line at 168 if he’s victorious against Madrimov at junior middleweight.
Crawford would still need to prove himself at middleweight and then take on David Benavidez or David Morrell at 168, which isn’t about to do because it wouldn’t end well for him.
“It’s obvious he [Canelo] has the size advantage, but size doesn’t mean everything in a fight,” said Keyshawn, stating the obvious. “You have to bring more than just size, power, and speed. You have to bring a lot of things to the table when it comes to a fight.”
If Keyshawn felt size didn’t matter, why doesn’t he move from 135 to 147 to take on IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis for his title? He’s been wasting time trying to call out Frank Martin and Teofimo Lopez, but why doesn’t he put his money where his mouth is and show the boxing world that size doesn’t matter by taking on Boots?
Unfortunately for Keyshawn, size does matter in boxing, and that’s why we don’t see many fighters jumping up multiple weight classes to take risky fights. The only time you see fighters do that is when they see a vulnerable fighter they’re certain they can beat.
“I think he [Crawford] can knock out Canelo for sure, and if he does that, It’s going to be crazy,” said Keyshawn about his gymmate Terence. “If he knocks out this guy [Madrimov] coming up, that’s going to be crazy. This guy is a young, hungry lion. This guy isn’t coming to lay down.”
If Gennadiy Golovkin couldn’t knock out Canelo, Crawford isn’t going to do it, especially if he’s fighting defensively, moving, jabbing, clinching, and wrestling all night like we’ve seen him do in the past.
Crawford is just going up in weight to fight Canelof or the payday, which he wouldn’t deserve, and it would be totally unfair to the contenders waiting in line at 168 to have him hope the line.
“This guy is coming to fight, and he’s got a real IQ. This guy can really fight. So, Terence is going to outbox him like he’s going to do. Terence is going to knock him out like he’s about to do; it’s going to be crazy. This matchup is even crazy for him to get into,” said Keyshawn.
We don’t know what Crawford will do against Madrimov because he’s fighting in a new weight class at 154, has been inactive for 13 months, and is turning 37 in September. All we know is Crawford beat a faded Errol Spence and a handful of other welterweights that were over-the-hill or mediocre. He wants to position himself for a payday against Canelo before retiring.
“Terence will be the smaller fighter going into this fight. So, you’ll probably see him not fighting so aggressive. He’ll probably catch this guy coming in. This guy has an Eastern European style. Terence has seen that before. With a bigger guy like this, that’s a puncher, he’s going to be more defensive,” said Keyshawn.
Crawford will land shots on Madrimov while he’s coming in, but whether he can avoid getting clipped is another matter. Even in the fights Crawford dominated, he got hit plenty, and he wasn’t a guy with Madrimov’s power or size coming off a 13-month layoff at his age.
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