Terence Crawford could receive much criticism from fans if he fights Gennadiy ‘GGG’ Golovkin rather than Vergil Ortiz Jr. or Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis next.
His Excellency Turki Alalshikh recently said that he didn’t think Crawford would accept a fight against the newly crowned WBC Interim junior middleweight champion because he only wanted a fight against Canelo Alvarez next.
Crawford’s Calculated Moves
Fans feel that Crawford should fight Boots or Vergil if he can’t get Canelo because those are the ones they want to see. Crawford failed to pass his test at 154 with flying colors against Israil Madrimov on August 3rd, winning an unimpressive decision in a fight that many felt he lost.
Choosing not to fight Boots or Vergil Jr. makes Crawford look like he’s ducking the two talents and selfishly electing not to pass the baton to the younger generation.
Golovkin (42-2-1, 37 KOs), the 2004 Olympic silver medalist and former unified middleweight world champion, is rumored to be in talks with His Excellency Turki Alalshikh for Crawford’s next fight in early 2025.
If Canelo doesn’t agree to fight Crawford, 36, next, he will fight Golovkin, 42, or one of the young lions, Boots Ennis or Vergil Jr. Those two are eager to face the Nebraska native Crawford in a changing-of-the-guard-level fight.
Crawford vs. Boots would be a big fight in the U.S. and create much interest. The same goes for Crawford vs. Vergil Jr. If Canelo turns up his nose to a match against him, those are both appealing fights for fans.
Golovkin an Easier Option?
From Crawford’s perspective, fighting Golovkin, 42, would make sense because he fought at super middleweight in his last bout in 2022, and he’s arguably beaten Canelo two out of three times.
In shape, the 2022 version of Golovkin would be too much for Crawford because he’s too powerful, rugged, and relentless with his attacks. Crawford would need to run all night against GGG to keep from getting knocked out by that version of the talented former champion.
There would be a lot of fans booing and angry if Crawford made it a technical affair, jabbing and running from GGG all night rather than standing and fighting. He already has been criticized for making his fight with Madrimov dull and fighting scared.
Losing in a fight against Golovkin or looking bad would hurt Crawford’s chances of landing the Canelo fight because fans wouldn’t want to see that matchup in the aftermath. Crawford’s controversial win in the Madrimov fight already made him look bad enough, but getting beaten or struggling against the older, inactive 42-year-old GGG would be disastrous for him.
Crawford isn’t going to fight one of the active, highly ranked 168-lb contenders to prepare himself for Canelo, like Christian Mbilli. He’s not nearly as well known as GGG, and it wouldn’t do much to build interest for a Canelo vs. Crawford fight.
