The Saudis are interested in staging a fight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford in the U.S in December or January.
Alalshikh Spearheads Negotiations
His Excellency Turki Alalshikh wants to put the Canelo-Crawford fight together, and he says he’s going to work on it.
Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) is already fighting in Alalshikh’s event in the headliner on August 3rd against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on August 3rd in Los Angeles, California.
“I’m working to deliver [Canelo], but it will be big fight [for Crawford],” Alalshikh said to ESPN “I’ll discuss with him the names.”
Crawford’s Leap and a Business Angle
It’s a great thing for Crawford to move up three weight classes straight into a world title shot against undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez without having to fight anybody.
It’s one thing for a fighter to move up one division to compete for a world title, but when you’re talking about three weight divisions and being able to fight for the undisputed championship, that’s completely different. I guess you can call Canelo vs. Crawford a business/entertainment type of match rather than a traditional sporting affair.
Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs) has said recently that he wasn’t interested in fighting Crawford, as he felt it was a lose-lose situation where he wouldn’t receive credit for beating him, given that the 36-year-old has been fighting at welterweight and is three divisions below him.
The money that His Excellency Alalshikh might soften his stance about fighting
Crawford.
If Canelo does fight Crawford, that’s bad news for WBA mandatory Edgar Berlanga, who was practically celebrating last Saturday night. He talked as if he was a sure thing to fight Alvarez in September and sang Mexican songs while moving among the crowds at Canelo’s fight against Jaime Munguia.
We’ll see if Crawford, 36, can return to the ring by December or January. He has only fought once a year and has been doing this since 2019.
Terence’s Schedule and Challenges
Crawford will face the dangerous puncher Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) in a tough fight, and there’s no way of knowing how he’ll do against this younger, hard-hitting fighter. Crawford has never fought at 154.
Crawford was originally supposed to fight Tim Tszyu on August 3rd, but his recent defeat at the hands of Sebastian Fundora on March 30th foiled that idea. His Excellency Alalshikh then chose to use Madrimov as Crawford’s next opponent.