Terence Crawford posted a photo on X of himself posing with Turki Al-Sheikh, confirming that he is inking a deal for his mega-money fight against Canelo Alvarez in September.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
Crawford has a custom King’s crown emoji along with his photo as if seeing him as some kind of monarch after getting the fight he begged for. This fight is Crawford’s golden parachute retirement day. Think of it as Canelo vs. Jermell Charlo 2.0.
Is it too much to ask for Crawford to first test himself against at least one killer at 168? Turki needs to set Crawford’s feet to the fire and tell him he has to beat David Benavidez first to get that payday against Canelo. Just let Terence fight Benavidez and let him prove himself worthy of meeting King Canelo.
Mayweather Blueprint 2.0
It is such a mismatch. I just hope Turki sells it cheap on PPV because it’s going to be a mismatch and probably a boring one if Crawford is the Mayweather blueprint of how he fought Alvarez in 2013. Crawford’s trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre has already said they are going to follow the Mayweather plan by ‘boxing, moving and pinning’ Canelo all night. It’s going to be very, very boring to watch. He said Crawford will follow it to the T, which will be pure poison for the eyes.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Canelo vs. Crawford if it’s free as part of the normal subscription to DAZN because it’s a circus level fight. Crawford had just moved up to 154 and looked awful, and now he’s going to move up two more divisions with no experience, no testing, without earning a title shot, and fight Canelo. It’s a joke.
Turki should kindly tell Crawford if he wants the money for a Canelo fight, he’s going to show some courage by fighting Morrell or Benavidez to show he deserves to be in the presence of the king. Let me be the one to tell Crawford. I’ll break it to him.
Former four-division world champion Crawford looked like an average fighter last August, moving up from 147 to 154 to challenge WBA champion Israil Madrimov for his title.
Two divisions too far
Crawford was unimpressive, having to rally late to win a 12-round unanimous decision against Madrimov. He could have easily lost that fight if Madrimov had the sense to go on the attack rather than keep potshotting. The performance by the 40-something Crawford showed that he has hit his ceiling for what he is capable of.
If he moves up to 160 to take on the killer Janibek Alimkhanuly or 168 to face Benavidez, the jig would be up. Crawford would be killed because of the size, youth and talent of these fighters.
Fans are divided on whether the 37-year-old Crawford being given this fight against Canelo is a good thing for the sport, a further decline, turning boxing into a non-sport. Obviously, in a real sport, Crawford will have to move past other teams to get to the highest level.
There would be a season, playoffs, and then the finals. We see Crawford skip all those jumps over fighters who would probably beat him like David Benavidez, David Morrell, Diego Pacheco, Christian Mbilli and Osleys Iglesias. If this was an exhibition fight, it would make sense, but it’s not.
Crawford is moving up two weight classes to get an undeserved world title shot against WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight champion Canelo in September. How is this even allowed to happen?
👑🤫 pic.twitter.com/Dbwka4qise
— Terence Crawford (@terencecrawford) January 13, 2025
