Trainer Andre Rozier doesn’t like the idea of Terence Crawford moving up to 168 to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his IBF, WBA, WBC & WBO super middleweight titles.
His Excellency Turki Alalshikh is interested in putting together a fight between Crawford and Canelo for December or January. If the fight gets made, Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) would be going up two divisions to challenge Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs).
Crawford has been campaigning at welterweight since 2018, and he’s now moving up to junior middleweight to challenge Israil Madrimov for his WBA title on August 3rd in Los Angeles. That’ll be the first time Crawford has fought at 154.
Assuming Crawford wins, he’ll potentially go up two weight classes to face Canelo at super middleweight, and it’s going to be a big jump. With Crawford being 36 and fighting once a year since 2019, it’s going to be hard enough to defeat Madrimov.
By the time that fight takes place, Crawford will have been out of the ring for 13 months and will be nearing 37. The combination of inactivity, age, and fighting in a weight class against one of the hardest punchers could be too much for Crawford.
“I don’t like it”
“I don’t like it. Canelo hasn’t been rattled by anybody, and he’s been in with some big punchers. I don’t like that fight for Crawford,” said trainer Andre Rozier to Fighthype about a potential fight between Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez that the Saudis are interested in putting together.
“I like him at 154, and maybe touching ground at 160. But at 168, I don’t like it,” Rozier continued about Crawford. “He’s going to box well because he’s a fantastic athlete and a fantastic boxer, but I don’t want to see TC going into that deep waters like that.”
I think Crawford knows it’s risky, but he wants to make as much money as he can before he retires soon. Fighting Canelo will provide Crawford with his biggest payday, and if he wins, he could get a second one against him in a rematch. Of course, if Canelo blows Crawford out of the water, it could be it for him.
Weight Classes Exist for a Reason
“If it’s about money, it’s a different story, but his legacy is being lamented in a fantastic way, and I’d hate to see it tarnished by trying to do too much,” said Rozier.
“I think he’s already there. He’s going to the Hall of Fame. His accolades have mountain-high stats to them. I don’t want to see him get into a situation where [he could get beat]. He has to build up to it. I just can’t see it.”
It’s about money with Crawford. He wants to get the big bucks he got for his last fight against Errol Spence, and the only one who can provide that payday is Canelo. If it was about sports, Crawford would stay at 147 and fight Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis.
“These things didn’t happen before. Once in a blue moon, but now, it’s modus operandi,” said Rozier about fighters not moving up two to three weight classes in a single move in the past.
“Now, it’s like, ‘I’m fighting at 140. I’m going to be fighting at cruiserweight in a year.’ It’s ridiculous. There’s a common phrase and it holds true. There’s a reason why there’s weight classes,” said Rozier.
