Terence Crawford is confident he will beat Canelo Alvarez if the unified super middleweight champion agrees to fight him.
When asked about Canelo’s reluctance to fight him, Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) says they would both be “gaining” if they were to fight. The money the fight would bring in would benefit them both, but it’s not worthwhile for Canelo because he can make better dough fighting popular fighters.
Crawford says he’ll be ready to fight Canelo if he does choose to fight him. He didn’t say whether he’ll sit inactive, waiting for Canelo to fight him, or if he’ll stay busy.
Promoter Eddie Hearn believes Crawford only wants Canelo from this point on and will retire if he doesn’t get the fight. If that’s Crawford’s approach, it’s a foolish one because his chances of getting the Canelo fight will diminish the longer he sits on the sidelines.
How Crawford Can Earn Canelo Fight
- Stay active: Focus on fighting three to four times per year
- Persuade Turki Alalshik to pay Cancel $150 million
- Move up to 168: Fight David Benavidez, David Morrell, and Osleys Inglesias in that order
“Canelo is bigger than me and stronger than me. We’re both giving away something, but we’re both gaining something at the same time,” said Terence Crawford to TMZ Sports about him and Canelo Alvarez having something to gain by fighting each other next.
“I don’t know. Canelo has his own agenda that he wants to handle. So, whatever he decides to do, it’s on him. But if he do decide to come the Crawford route, we’re going to be ready.
Crawford isn’t a PPV attraction. He’s only popular with the hardcore fans who like his defensive style. He’s a boring fighter with a throwback Mayweather-esque style that caters to fans who enjoy watching Floyd’s hit-and-run approach to fighting. Crawford’s recent clash against Israil Madrimov at 154 was a dull one that caused fans to boo last August.
Canelo can make more money fighting David Benavidez, Artur Beterbiev, Dmitry Bivol, Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, and Diego Pacheco.
“I don’t know if a fight of that magnitude could even be held at the Sphere,” said Crawford when asked about whether he’d be interested in fighting Canelo at the 18,600-seat Sphere in Las Vegas. “It’s not enough people. I don’t think it’s big enough.”
It sounds like Crawford is hoping that His Excellency will stage a fight between him and Canelo in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. That won’t happen unless Canelo’s asking price is met, and I don’t see him giving in on that.
“I couldn’t really say. I would hope that it would be somewhere where it can benefit both parties,” said Crawford when asked where he would like for his fight with Canelo to be staged.
“If he do decide to come my way and me and him get in the ring, it would be an electrifying fight. It won’t be like any other fight that he’s fought recently, and it would be a well-fought fight for both of us, I believe,” said Crawford about Canelo.
It won’t be electrifying because is pure boxer, and he’s already hinted that he’s going to follow the blueprint that Mayweather and Dmitry Bivol created about how to beat Canelo.
So if Crawford does get the fight, he would jab, throw single-pot shots, hold, and then dash away like a thief all night. That’s what Mayweather did. He hit, ran and held Canelo the entire fight. It was very boring to watch.
“Of course, I’d beat him. It ain’t no doubt in my mind that I beat anyone that I step in the ring with,” Crawford said when asked if he’d beat Canelo.
Crawford is not going to beat Canelo because he couldn’t even beat Madrimov in a convincing manner last August. Instead of begging Canelo 24/7, Crawford needs to give Madrimov a rematch because there are still a lot of questions about who really deserved the win in that fight.
