The odds of Terence Crawford defending his remaining three super middleweight titles against a non-Canelo Alvarez opponent are considered slim by fans.
The four young murderers at 168
The 38-year-old Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs) has these four top contenders bearing down on him like a pack of hungry wolves:
- Christian Mbilli
- Osley Iglesias
- Lester Martinez
- Hamzah Sheeraz
With the WBC stripping Crawford of his title last week for failing to pay the reduced $300,000, Mbilli and Sheeraz are likely to fight for the belt. So he doesn’t have to worry about them going after him.
The threat of Iglesias and Martinez
There’s still Iglesias and Lester Martinez, who would be a terror for an aging, Shakur-esque Crawford to deal with. He couldn’t potshot and move his way to a close win against them like he did against Alvarez in their ‘Fight of the Century’ on September 13th. He will actually have to fight Lester and Osleys. That’s not good for a fighter like Crawford, who doesn’t have the strength and willingness to stick his head out of the foxhole and get it taken down by one of those young phenoms.
The $100M Rematch Price Barrier
The only fighter Crawford is expected to be willing to defend his IBF, WBA and WBO 168lb titles against is Canelo (63-3-2, 39 KOs). But that’s still questionable because of the $100 million claims from Crawford. Fans believe that Terence is still hoping that Turki Alalshikh and the Saudis will finance the rematch with Canelo.
Turki’s wallet controls the division
If Turki is going to finance a second fight, he will have to be willing to meet Crawford’s enormous price tag, along with Canelo’s. Value-wise, it’s hard to justify either of them getting even a quarter of what they earned in their fight last September. Crawford’s $50 million and Canelo’s $100 million. They fought like two older fighters, not taking risks and doing the bare minimum. Will Turki want to give them raises based on how they looked last time?
If the rematch does happen, it will be sometime in 2026. The second half of the year will allow Canelo’s injured elbow to fully heal. It’s not a big deal for Crawford to have to wait because he only fights once a year and has for the past five years.
Last updated on 12/08/2025
