By Allan Fox: ‘King’ Canelo Alvarez gave Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford the bad news last Saturday night, letting him know that he’s not in his plans for his next fight after defeating Jermell Charlo by a decisive twelve round unanimous decision in Las Vegas.
Crawford can do one of two things in reaction to Canelo saying he’s not going to fight him:
- Earn the fight: Move up to 168 and beat all the top contenders to become mandatory for Canelo. Beware, this could take a long time for Crawford and end in bitter failure, with him getting trounced by the likes of David Morrell Jr. and David Benavidez.
- Give up on trying to fight Canelo: Move up to 154 and focus on trying to become undisputed in that weight class by beating Tim Tszyu, Jermell, and Brian Mendoza.
As always, Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) left open the possibility of fighting the 36-year-old Crawford in the future, saying, “If it makes sense,” but it’s obvious that he has no intention of doing so.
By Canelo not directly saying No to the fight with Crawford, he avoids a lot of the criticism he would receive from boxing fans & the media if he declined the fight by letting them know that he’s not interested.
It’s easy to understand why Canelois isn’t interested in fighting Crawford because there’s nothing to gain from fighting him.
Crawford is clearly looking for a big payday like Jermell was, and if Canelo says yes to fighting him, it’s just going to lead to a flood of smaller fighters wanting to get a similar eight-figure cash-out retirement fund.
“He’s not in my plans,” said Canelo Alvarez when asked at the post-fight press conference last night if he was interested in fighting Terence Crawford next following his victory over JermellCharlo at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
If Crawford wants to fight Canelo so badly, he needs to move up to 168 the big dogs after his rematch with Errol Spence Jr. next year. Crawford needs to show that he’s not just looking for a payday and that he’s serious about the sport by fighting these 168-pound fighters that are waiting for their shot at Canelo:
- David Benavidez
- David Morrell Jr.
- Demetrius Andrade.
“I don’t know. If it makes sense, maybe. I’m going to enjoy this fight. Let me enjoy this fight, and then you’re going to know for sure,” said Canelo.
“This is Canelo. I’m back. I feel confident and happy because I didn’t feel happy for a long time, but now, I’m back.”
Congratulations @Canelo you made the so called lion look like a baby cub.
— Terence Crawford (@terencecrawford) October 1, 2023
