Terence Crawford is living his dream right now, and he’s making sure everyone knows it. While he’s busy hitting the gym, bulking up, and sharpening his skills, he’s also making the rounds in interviews ahead of his highly anticipated September showdown in Las Vegas. When it comes to this fight, opinions are split. Some fans and fighters believe that weight classes exist for a reason—that moving up against a bigger, stronger opponent is just too risky. But others? They believe in Bud Crawford’s elite skill set.
Right now, the undefeated 41-0 boxer is putting everything into this fight. Meanwhile, Canelo Alvarez has his eyes on a different challenge first—his May 3rd bout against William Scull in Riyadh. If Canelo wins, he will become the undisputed super middleweight champion for the second time. And that’s exactly what Bud Crawford wants. Just think about it—Crawford moving up two weight classes to take on an undisputed champion. That too, he is not a regular undisputed champion. The man is Canelo Alvarez. If he pulls this off? It would be legendary.
And make no mistake. Terence Crawford knows what he’s up against. But that’s not teetering his confidence in himself. In a recent episode of Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo, he didn’t hesitate to back himself strongly. “I feel like I got the speed over Canelo. I got the reach over him. He might get the size, the power, but I got the better skills, boxing skills,” he responded when asked about the gargantuan task he’s set himself up for.
Image Courtesy: Imago
To this, Henry Cejudo immediately jumped in, asking if it would be more of a “cat and mouse” fight, implying that Crawford might have to play it smart and move a lot. But Crawford? He shut that down real quick—“Nah.” He’s not running from anything. Then came the comparisons. Triple C brought up Canelo’s history of knocking people out—guys like James Kirkland (who came off a 6th round TKO victory in his last fight, lost in a 3rd round KO to Canelo in 2015), Amir Khan (defeated by 6th round KO in 2016) and Sergey Kovalev who was the WBO light heavyweight champion at the time when Canelo was moving up from middleweight (Canelo knocked him out in the 11th round). But that’s where Crawford drew the line. “Don’t disrespect me!” he shot back with a chuckle.
Simply put, Bud Crawford wasn’t impressed. “Kovalev was older,” he pointed out. And then, he made one big statement. “Don’t get me wrong. He (Canelo) does have a lot of power. But all those guys that you named are not as skillful as me. I’m sorry. No disrespect to none of those fighters. The skill level is night and day,” the 37-year-old explained. Bold statement, right?
So, how does Bud Crawford see a fight with Canelo Alvarez playing out? “A tough fight,” he admitted. He respected Canelo as a great fighter, but he believed in his own skills more. “The fact that people doubt me, it just fuels me even more. Try to get the fight even more, and I’m watching him. I’m like, man, I can beat this dude.” And as for the size difference? The southpaw from Omaha wasn’t sweating it. “I’ve been fighting people bigger than me all my life. And I always came out on top.” In the end, the Nebraska native concluded, “You’re gonna get hit, it’s a fight. He’s gonna get hit too. It’ll be good.”
One thing’s for sure—if this fight ever happens, Terence Crawford isn’t stepping in just to survive. He’s coming to win. And after he wins, what’s he gonna do more?
Before anything else, Terence Crawford must settle things with Canelo Alvarez
Terence Crawford is about to turn 38, and with his massive fight in September, a big question looms—will he hang up the gloves after this? Some think retirement is on the table, while others believe he’s got more left in the tank. In a recent chat with The Ring magazine, Crawford gave a very vague answer when asked about his future. When Manouk Akopyan pressed him about what’s next after Canelo, Crawford simply shrugged it off. “Who knows, who knows?” But he did hint that a rematch with Canelo could be an option—or maybe another huge fight. For now, though? He’s locked in on one thing: beating Canelo Alvarez.
Boxen: 62nd WBC Annual Convention, Gala Dinner, Hamburg, 09.12.2024 Terence Crawford *** Boxing 62nd WBC Annual Convention, Gala Dinner, Hamburg, 09 12 2024 Terence Crawford
“Right now I’m just focused on, you know, him right now… and just basically mentally preparing myself for everything that I have to do to, uh, secure a victory,” the WBA Super Welterweight champion said. Anyway, Bud made it clear that nothing’s decided about his next step yet.
But here’s the thing—the 154-pound division doesn’t have the same legacy-defining fights as facing Canelo Alvarez. And at this stage in his career, that’s what really matters to Terence Crawford. So, will he chase undisputed at 154 lbs? Or is this final run all about cementing his name in history? Do let us know your thoughts below.
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