He’s less than a month away from a grueling victory, so maybe Terence Crawford should be afforded a deeper reflection before his immediate reaction becomes written in stone.
Yet, judging by the fighter’s response relayed by Saudi Arabia’s fight maker Turki Alalshikh, Crawford is only interested in a Saul “Canelo” Alvarez bout as his 37th birthday arrives next month, and the possible pursuit of becoming an undisputed 154-pound champion is not happening.
Nebraska’s four-division champion Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) escaped with a narrow unanimous-decision victory over Uzbekistan’s Israil Madrimov Aug. 3 in Los Angeles by virtue of winning the final two rounds, as his trainer, Brian McIntyre, breathed a sigh of relief to start the post-fight news conference.
And now that four-division champion Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) has discouraged interest in fighting Crawford, Alalshikh proposed a bout against new WBC interim junior-middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr., who just edged Serhii Bohachuk by majority decision Aug. 10.
Crawford, according to Alalshikh, responded that he only has interest in Alvarez.
“Crawford’s only looking for a big-money fight based on popularity, legacy,” former welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi said on Friday’s edition of ProBox TV’s “Top Stories.”
“He realized these top 154-pound guys are no joke. He had to dig deep to pull out the win over Madrimov, and the 154-pound division is full of guys like Madrimov. He’s thinking, ‘At this stage, I didn’t build my reputation to fight these young, hungry destroyers who are salivating in hunger.’
“… I understand why he wouldn’t want to fight these other guys.”
Crawford could still achieve a significant legacy play by fighting Canelo. Not only have the pair competed as pound-for-pound kings during the past decade, Alvarez wears three super-middleweight belts as he heads to a Sept. 14 bout as a prohibitive favorite against unbeaten WBA mandatory Edgar Berlanga.
If he could win – and Crawford would be a pronounced underdog – the Nebraskan could stand as a five-division champion.
Meanwhile, the 154-pound crop includes a slew of opponents that could pose problems, including Ortiz (22-0, 21 KOs), former champion Tim Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs) and Bohachuk (24-2, 23 KOs).
Crawford continues to have the option to invoke a mandatory shot at current WBO/WBC 154-pound champion Sebastian Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs) by the end of the year.
A boxing official familiar with that situation frowned upon that fight ever happening, given the disdain that exists between Fundora side, Premier Boxing Champions, and the occasionally prickly Crawford.
All of the top 154-pound fighters are at least seven years younger than Crawford.
“You can’t blame (Crawford), although I’m not sure that (Alvarez) fight will happen, or if Turki Alalshikh is interested in it,” Malignaggi said. “It doesn’t interest me. I like competitive fights. It allows Crawford to pad his bank account. It doesn’t do anything for me.
“I enjoy hungry fighters fighting to be the best.”
Fellow “Top Stories” analyst and former 140-pound champion Chris Algieri said Crawford has the right to be “all about the money” at this point in his career.
“He’s already the most accomplished fighter of the four-belt era,” Algieri said. “He’s been undisputed (at 140 pounds and welterweight) and was a 100 per cent knockout guy, but he goes to 154 and realizes that to try and collect these belts is not easy.”
So why not restrict the focus purely to the cash cow of the sport?
“Crawford is the best-known fighter at 154, anyway,” Malignaggi said. “Canelo might not be as hungry, either.”
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