Trainer Stephen Edwards believes 37-year-old junior middleweight Terence Crawford can move up two divisions and pass Canelo Alvarez at 168 with his move. He says that Crawford can beat Canelo if he can move like he did when he fought Viktor Postol in 2016, which is physically impossible without a fully functioning time machine.
Edwards feels that Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) would be at a “comfortable” weight at 168, ready to move as he did when he was significantly younger and lighter against the thin, lighter punching Postol. He argues that Crawford can beat Canelo if he hits on the move like he did against Postol.
Edwards is a classic example of a Crawford fan who feels he is infallible, can beat anyone with movement and has an offense limited to pot shots. These Crawford fans don’t want to accept that he got old, hit his ceiling at 154 and lost his nerve to fight the best guys during his bad experience against Israil Madrimov.
Can Crawford find his old 2016 legs?
To back up his claim, Edwards comments on a clip of Crawford moving around the ring for nearly a minute against Postol before dropping him with a single punch in what appears to be a blitz.
Crawford hasn’t moved like this in many years, and he showed very little mobility in his recent fight in his debut at 154 against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on August 3.
In that fight, Crawford ate hard right hands from Madrimov all night, narrowly eating a 12-round unanimous decision that could have easily gone the other way. Edwards says the reason Crawford didn’t move anymore is because he didn’t have to.
I’m not sure that’s the reality. It looked more like age and inactivity, having taken away Crawford’s age. He didn’t pause on purpose in that fight as he hit harder than he ever had and the fight came down to the last three rounds.
Even if Crawford tried to fight like he did eight years ago when he beat Postol, he couldn’t. He wouldn’t move like that for 12 rounds, especially if he was going to fight Canelo at 168.
Stephen believes Canelo could choose to fight Crawford. However, this may be wishful thinking. If Canelo sees the old tape of Terence’s fight against Postol, it is doubtful that he will fight him because at 34 he will not want to fight a runner. Canelo doesn’t fight guys who move a lot because he doesn’t like dealing with all the movement at his age.
Crawford himself wouldn’t fight someone who had a nightmarish style to him like David Benavidez because he wouldn’t stand a chance of winning.
Additionally, it would be a no-win for Canelo, where he would not receive credit for beating Crawford, and he would be criticized for the rest of his career if he struggled to win or lose. It would be the same situation for Crawford if he were to fight Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and be made to look bad by winning or losing.
Unsurprisingly, Crawford has shown no interest in fighting Boots as there is nothing to gain and everything to lose in that fight. Crawford is more popular than Boots. It would be him to get everything out of the game. Canelo is much more popular than Crawford, who is only known to hardcore fans.
Who Will Meet Canelo’s $150 Million Price?
Canelo has already said he won’t take the fight with Crawford. So, it’s pretty pointless to talk about it unless someone meets the Mexican star’s $150 million asking price. He wants that kind of cash for the Crawford fight, and there’s nobody on earth willing to pay him that kind of money.
What Crawford needs to do is forget about Canelo and either fight the guys at 154 who are willing to face him or retire.
You see how well Crawford hit on the move, boxed and was defensively responsible at the same time…this fight lets me know he can fight a style that will give Canelo fits. Absolute matches. If he doesn’t get clipped, he will outbox the ATG Canelo. https://t.co/nkGwXFMEOx
— Stephen Edwards (@BreadmanBoxing) October 24, 2024
