Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford reiterated today that he is only interested in a mega-fight against Canelo Alvarez, a rematch with Errol Spence, and then he’s retiring.
The unbeaten former two-division undisputed champion Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) made it clear that he’s NOT interested in fighting the talented newly crowned IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis or fighting Jermell Charlo.
Crawford, 36, says a fight with Boots Ennis wouldn’t be a mega-fight, so he’s not interested in facing him.
As for former undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell, Crawford says his performance against Canelo in his one-sided defeat rules him out as someone he’s interested in facing.
Crawford didn’t say what he’d do if Canelo chose not to grant his wish for a fight, as he’d already let the media know that he was not going to fight him. Canelo doesn’t see how he gains from fighting a guy three weight classes below him.
Canelo took a lot of flak from boxing fans for choosing to defend his undisputed super middleweight championship against 154-lb fighter Jermell last September, who had to come up two divisions to face him.
If Crawford moves up to 154, it would still be a no-win situation for Canelo because he just fought a 154-pounder in his last fight, and no one gave him credit.
Perhaps the ONLY way Crawford can get a fight with Canelo is if he bites the bullet and moves up to 168 to fight one of these fighters to earn the shot properly:
- David Morrell
- Demetrius Andrade
- David Benavidez
- Dmitry Bivol
Crawford only wants Canelo & Spence fights
“Man, that would be lovely. That would definitely be lovely,” said Terence Crawford to the media about a fight between him and Canelo Alvarez. “Listen, like I said. Jaron [Boots Ennis] is in one place, and I’m in another.
“I’m looking for mega-fights right now, and right now, that’s not a mega-fight. That’s my standpoint on it. I’m looking to fight guys like Canelo. That’s pretty much it, man, and a rematch with Spence, and that’s it. That’s over with for me,” said Crawford.
It sounds like Crawford could be retiring after his rematch with Errol Spence in the first quarter of 2024 if Canelo doesn’t grant his wish for a retirement golden parachute type of fight, which he clearly doesn’t deserve.
Terence focused on mega-fights
“[Jermell] Charlo isn’t a mega-fight. His last performance wasn’t a great performance. Winning,” said Crawford when asked what keeps him motivated and proving everybody else wrong.
Crawford’s emphasis on only wanting mega-fights puts him in a situation where he doesn’t have many options if he can’t get the Canelo match-up that he craves. If Canelo continues to say NO, where does that leave Crawford?
Since Crawford has ruled out fighting Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis & Jermell Charlo, that least just Canelo & the Spence rematch before retiring.
If Crawford is willing to move up to 168, he can accept the invitation from David Benavidez’s father, Jose Sr., to face the ‘Mexican Monster,’ and would be a mega-fight. It would be one that would be difficult for Crawford to try to win, but it would make him a lot of money and put him in a better position to get the fight with Canelo.
“I told everybody out there on the stage to go out there and to their best,” said Crawford when asked about his thoughts on Jermall Charlo missing weight for his fight against Jose Benavidez Jr. this Saturday night on Showtime PPV.
“It’s going to be a good card. I know all the guys fairly well. The Charlos, the Benavidez brothers, and Boo Boo. That’s my brother. I wish everyone well.
This would have been a good opportunity today for Crawford to let the media know that he was interested in fighting the Benavidez vs. Andrade winner or the winner of the Jermall Charlo vs. Jose Benavidez fight.
Perhaps Crawford doesn’t consider those guys as being big enough fights for him to take the risk of facing them. Fighting any of those guys would be huge for Crawford.
“He shouldn’t be hard on himself. He won. That’s all that matters,” said Crawford about Shakur Stevenson not being happy with how he fought recently with his ugly twelve round unanimous decision win over Edwin De Los Santos on November 16th in a fight for the vacant WBC lightweight belt.
“He won the fight, and everything else is history, and he looked good doing it. To me, in my eyes, he boxed real well. When you got a fighter that defensive, it’s hard to beat them,” said Crawford about Shakur, but not realizing that the fans booed nonstop and that the performance permanently ruined his chances of getting fights against Vasily Lomachenko, Gervonta Davis & Devin Haney.
It doesn’t matter that Crawford thinks Shakur Stevenson looked good. The fans didn’t, and that’s all that matters. The way Shakur fought left a negative impression on the boxing world, making it unlikely that he’ll ever get the fights that he wants.
“A lot of people want to see you go in there and go socker boppers, hit-for-hit, but that’s not his style. He won the fight, and everything else played out,” said Crawford.
“If that’s what he did, [Jose] Benavidez is a talented guy,” said Crawford when told that Jose Benavidez Jr. claimed to have video of him dropping Errol Spence Jr. in sparring. “We can’t take nothing away from him.’
Jose Benavidez Jr. dropping Spence in sparring takes away some of the shine from Crawford’s win over Errol last July and suggests that he’s not the same fighter since his car crash in 2019.
The boxing public is still giving Crawford credit for his victory over Spence, but it’s clear that a big reason for his looking so good against him was the car accident. Crawford didn’t look good in his previous fights against David Avanesyan, Kell Brook, Egidijus Kavaliauskas and Shawn Porter.
“We always want to take things away from fighters when they lose. Give those fighters their flowers, and let them be great,” said Crawford.
