By Chris Williams – 22/09/2024 – Commentary
Mike Tyson says he doesn’t like the idea of Terence Crawford jumping up to 168 to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his three titles in that weight class.
“Iron Mike” Tyson notes that Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) didn’t look good in his last fight, moving up from 147 to 154 to fight Israil Madrimov on Aug. 3 for his WBA junior middleweight belt. Tyson says Madrimov was big, and Crawford shouldn’t have fought him.
Madrimov nailed Crawford with powerful right hands all night and clearly landed the harder, cleaner shots in each round. I watched the fight and had Madrimov win based on best strikes, but the judges scored the contest as if it was under amateur rules.
The judges gave Crawford a narrow 12-round unanimous decision win, but it wasn’t the kind of performance that showed the soon-to-be 37-year-old Crawford could move up to 168 to beat WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight champion Canelo.
It’s clear that Crawford just wants that bag for the Canelo fight to give him money for his retirement to live in luxury like one of the robber barons of the Gilded agebut it’s fair to the fans. If Crawford wants to get that retirement payday against Canelo, he needs to move up to 168 and prove himself against these Big Four:
- David Benavidez
- David Morrell
- Christian Mbilli
- Osley Iglesias
If Crawford can pass these four tests, he can move to the next level to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his three belts at super middleweight. It’s that simple. To get that golden parachute, Crawford has to earn it the hard way, just like anyone in life. There are no handouts. His resume is weak, filled with over-the-hill fighters and lesser guys who are never good to begin with.
“I don’t like that fight (Canelo vs. Crawford). Too much weight. He had a close fight with the last guy he fought (Israil Madrimov) because he was big and really awkward. He shouldn’t have even fought that guy,” Mike Tyson told the It is What It Is YouTube channel, and talks about his thoughts on Terence Crawford potentially jumping up to 168 to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his unified super middleweight titles.
Last updated on 22/09/2024
