Coach Brian “Bomac” McIntyre says Terence “Bud” Crawford’s transition from 147lbs to 154lbs will be seamless.
Crawford, 36, for many the best fighter in the world, is 40-0 with 31 stoppage wins. On August 3, he moves up to face WBA champion Israil Madrimov at junior middleweight.
“It’s no challenge. Terence was growing out of 147, his body’s developing more now, he’s developing more power, so it’s not like holding him back no more, that he’s got to stay at a certain weight,” said McIntyre to FightHub. “Now it’s just letting him go. Let him go and do his thing.”
McIntyre said Crawford was working with two strength trainers and believes he has seen his fighter make enhancements.
“I would say that he’s improved more,” McIntyre continued. “Speed… Power… Like I say, at 147 he was growing out of it, he had to keep his body at a certain weight, but now at 54 he’s able to do the things he wants to do… I think the transition is going well, and you’ll see it when they fight.”
But McIntyre has urged everyone not to look beyond the undefeated champion. Madrimov will be aiming to make an impression when they fight at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
“Seeing Madrimov and just watching him, I believe he’s going to bring a good performance out of Terence because the kid looks like he’s determined. I know he’s only got 10 fights [10-0-1, 7 KOs], but he’s got a shitload of amateur fights and he’s been fighting some great guys at a professional level, and he’s champion. So he brings a lot to the table for Terence to work with.”
Errol Spence has said he’d like a rematch with Crawford, who so impressively stopped him last July, but McIntyre is not so sure that will happen.
“If he [Spence] wanted the rematch, he would have took it at ’47,” McIntyre added.
McIntyre then started to answer questions about a possible fight between Crawford and Canelo Alvarez, and said that Crawford had notched gym rounds with far bigger men.
Crawford is set to move up from 147, while Canelo has competed at 175.
“Y’all can look at it like that, but Bud’s always been sparring bigger guys,” McIntyre said. “I remember one time he was sparring [heavyweight contender] Bryant Jennings. That was a good sparring session.”
Asked whether there had been talks about a Canelo-Crawford fight in February, McIntrye replied: “I think it’s just one fight at a time right now. The fight that is in front of Bud, that’s what he’s concentrating on. Bud ain’t never looked past an opponent. He never takes an opponent lightly so right now his focus is on Madrimov, because this fight is dangerous.”
But McIntyre sounded confident in the Nebraskan should he ever meet the decorated Mexican in a cross-division superfight.
“I just look at Canelo in that he can be beaten,” McIntyre went on. “He’s been beat before so Bud’s definitely got the tools to beat him. That’s how I look at it…. I know Bud has the tools to beat him. That’s the most important thing to me.
“I could see him doing it. Is it a challenge for him? Yeah, of course. Is it a challenge for the whole team? Yeah, of course. That’s something we’re in the business for. Being great.”
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