Terence Crawford revealed today that he’s ready to make history by jumping up an incredible three-weight division to take on the September 30th winner between four-belt 168-lb champion Canelo Alvarez & Jermell Charlo to try and become an undisputed champion in third weight class,
Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) has already captured undisputed championships at 140 & 147, and he had been planning on trying to challenge Jermell for his 154-lb undisputed championship next.
However, Crawford says he wants the opportunity to fight Canelo, who he notes is a much bigger star than Jermell. That’s the only way Crawford can get a chance to make history by taking on Canelo because the ‘Face of Boxing’ can’t drain down in weight to fight him at middleweight.
Crawford says he believes he can fight the Canelo vs. Jermell winner in 2024, as those two likely will be done for the remainder of this year after meeting on September 30th.
Terence says that will give him time to bulk up before fighting the winner in early 2024. Recently, the former three-division world champion Crawford had said he wouldn’t go any higher than a 158-lb catchweight for a fight with Canelo, but he’s changed his mind, seeing this as a chance for him to become a three-division undisputed champion.
To go up from 147 lbs to 168 lbs and to win, wow. I want to be three-time undisputed,” said Terence Crawford to Joe Rogan. “A three-time undisputed champion and a smaller fighter that went up three weight divisions to conquer one of the baddest men besides myself that have been doing it probably long than me,” said Crawford bout Canelo.
Obviously, it won’t be easy for Crawford to move up to 168 to dethrone the Canelo vs. Jermell winner, as he’ll need to put on a lot of weight, and he won’t be as fast as he’d been fighting at 147. Moreover, Crawford’s power might not carry up to 168.
The difference in power could be a problem for the 36-year-old Omaha, Nebraska native, as he’s never been hit by a super middleweight. Canelo is a big puncher, and so is Jermell.
“No, 168. Yeah, if he wins or Charlo. The winner. I think that’s the biggest fight in boxing. If he [Alvarez] beats Jermell, Terence Crawford-Canelo is the biggest fight in boxing, hands down,” said Crawford.
Canelo vs. Crawford might not be the biggest fight in boxing, but it’ll undoubtedly be a colossal event surpassing Terence’s last contest against former unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. last month on July 29th on Showtime PPV.
It’s still too early to know if Crawford will need to face Spence in a rematch before he takes on the Canelo vs. Jermell winner. Of course, we don’t know if the winner of that fight will agree to face Crawford next because they could choose to fight a rematch or go in the direction of facing David Benavidez. Now, that would be the biggest fight in boxing, Canelo vs. Benavidez.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05bzQa2u4Tw
