The rumored fight between Terence Crawford and former middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin is not happening.
His Excellency Turki Alalshikh has reportedly denied that he plans to put together a fight between the inactive 42-year-old Golovkin and WBA junior middleweight champion Crawford.
The fight would be a no-win situation for Crawford, where he would not receive credit if he won, and if he was beaten or struggled, he would be criticized by fans.
It would have been interesting for fans to see how well Crawford held up to a big puncher like Golovkin, who would put their hands on him.
Crawford’s last opponent, ‘Little GGG’ Israil Madrimov, only threw punches sporadically, but the ones he did throw touched the Nebraska native. He looked very beatable, squeaking by with a close decision.
Golovkin would have been a more dangerous threat to Crawford, who was not designed to fight above 147 at the elite level and would be out of his depth at 160 and up.
Crawford Focused on Canelo
Turki isn’t saying if he wanted to put the fight together because he recently commented that Crawford only wants a fight against Canelo Alvarez. If that’s the only fight Crawford wants, he won’t accept a smaller one at risk against Golovkin.
It remains to be seen if Turki can produce the Canelo fight for Crawford, who turns 37 on September 28. He doesn’t have much time left in his career and will have to get the Canelo fight soon.
Crawford will sit and wait for as long as it takes to find out if His Excellency can negotiate a mega-fight against Mexican superstar Canelo, who has told him he does not want to book another fight until he is cleared by his title defense came against. Edgar Berlanga on September 14.
If Turki can’t put that fight together, Crawford could choose to retire from the sport. He would put his undefeated record and legacy at risk if he continued to fight at 154 against the younger fighters, who hit hard and would push him much more than his last opponent, Israil Madrimov.