By Brian Webber: Roy Jones Jr. says Canelo Alvarez is too big for welterweight Terence Crawford for that fight to happen right now after witnessing what the Mexican star did to 154-lb undisputed champion Jermell Charlo last Saturday night when he moved up to 168.
Roy Jr. would like to see Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) go up to 154 to face Jermell for his belts, and if he does well, then go up two more divisions to face Canelo for his undisputed championship at super middleweight.
It’s still a lot of weight for Crawford to deal with, and it could be too much. The problem is Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) has already ruled out fighting Crawford, so he would have to change his mind.
If Crawford were ambitious and not just looking for a handout, he would skip 154 and go straight to 168 and fight one of these fighters that Canelo has been avoiding:
- David Benavidez
- Dmitry Bivol
- Demetrius Andrade
- David Morrell Jr.
- Artur Beterbiev
- Diego Pacheco
It’s pretty clear that without Crawford moving up to 168 to earn the fight, Canelo will have nothing to do with him. The sooner that Crawford understands this, the better it is for him because he’s not a spring chicken at 36, and can’t afford to sit & wait, hoping that Canelo will bless him based on his win over the wrecked version of Errol Spence.
Did Canelo show he’s back?
“Canelo showed that he’s back with a purpose. Many people wrote him off, but he’s not ready to be written off yet,” said Roy Jones Jr. to the Fight Hub TV channel, discussing Canelo Alvarez’s win over Jermell Charlo.
Canelo proved that he could beat an inactive 154-pounder who hadn’t fought in seventeen months and had never fought at 168.
For Canelo to prove that he’s really back, he needs to fight the top guys that he’s been avoiding at 168, meaning Benavidez, Morrell & Andrade. If Canelo beats them, you can say, “he’s back with a purpose,” but not after beating Jermell.
“If a boxer has still got it, he should be allowed to compete. Canelo showed that he’s still one of the elite fighters in the 168-lb division. He could fight the brother [Jermall Charlo] next, he could fight Benavidez, and he could fight a lot of people,” said Roy when asked who Canelo should fight next.
Canelo didn’t show that he’s one of the elite at 168 because he hand-picked a 154-lb fighter. What he proved is he’s good at beating junior middleweights, but not a guy from the 168-lb division.
“He could fight the winner of Boo Boo & Benavidez because that would be a good fight, too,” said Roy. “So we’ll see. I think he’s [Canelo] a little big for Crawford. I think Crawford does have punching power and shock, but I think Canelo is a little big. He showed tonight that he’s pretty big.
“So, I’d prefer to see [Jermell] Charlo fight Crawford first and then see how that goes. If he does good against Charlowith the weight, then let’s see him come up and fight Canelo, but not right now. I want to see Crawford come up some weight class and show that he can be dominant at 154.
“Crawford is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters fighting, so it would be tough. But right now, that’s going to be a tough fight for both fighters. So, we got to see how Crawford carries the weight.
“Jermall matched up a little bit different [against Canelo] because Jermall is a little bit bigger. It’ll be a little bit of a different fight. He don’t have to move as much around as Jermell had to do. So, it’ll be a little bit different fight with Jermall.
“I’m not going to tell you that right now because I’m not sure if I’m going to be the person to do that,” said Roy when asked how he’d train Jermall to beat Canelo.
