Light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol believes Terence Crawford can climb three weight classes from 147 to 168 to defeat undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez.
Bivol is high on the unbeaten Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs), viewing him as a great fighter, and he thinks that it shouldn’t be viewed as an insane move for him to move up to 168 to knock Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) off his throne as the King of the super middleweight division.
Bivol’s Prediction
“When I stepped into a boxing gym, the first rule was to respect weight classes. But I don’t know what [Crawford is] going to eat,” said Bivol to Boxingscene.
“He’s [Crawford] the best fighter. Everything that he’s planning shouldn’t look like it’s crazy. If he’s thinking about it, if he’s talking about it, it means it’s possible.”
It’s one thing for Crawford to think about it, but it’s a whole another kettle of fish going out and proving it. Just because Crawford beat an inactive, weight-drained, car crash-wrecked, eye-injured Errol Spence Jr. last July doesn’t mean he will defeat Canelo.
The way that Spence looked that night, he would have been picked off by virtually any of the top ten welterweights,and even some of the bottom feeders. Errol looked half-starved like he’d been in a prisoner of war camp for months.
Should Crawford Earn The Fight?
One problem that could prevent the 36-year-old Crawford from fulfilling Bivol’s vision of him is Canelo’s lack of interest in entertaining that fight.
That’s the main issue. With Crawford not inclined to move up to 168 to earn the fight against Canelo by running the gauntlet against these three killers, David Morrell Jr., David Benavidez, and Caleb Plant, it’s pointless to consider the idea.
It just sounds like Crawford wants to skip the line at 168 and be given a title shot without actually doing anything to earn the fight. Is Crawford just looking for a handout, a golden parachute for his retirement? What about Crawford earning the payday first?
Chris Williams wants to know why Crawford doesn’t want to defend his undisputed welterweight title against the young talent Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis,’ and Canelo doesn’t wish to defend his four belts against his mandatory David Benavidez.
Shouldn’t Crawford be proving himself against the top guy from his own division, Boots Ennis, at 147, and Canelo doing the same at 168 against Benavidez?
