Terence Crawford wants to bow out of professional boxing with his wits about him. The 36-year-old boxer doesn’t want his brain to be turned to mush at the end of his fighting career. Therefore, he wants one crowning moment in his boxing legacy as his last hurrah. With that in mind, Crawford has set his sights on the ‘face of boxing’—Canelo Alvarez as the final opponent of his professional boxing career. However, negotiations between the two fighters are at a standstill as Saudi Arabian boxing powerbroker HE Turki Alalshikh’s first attempt at making the fight happen was snubbed by Canelo. But, ‘Bud’ isn’t backing down.
Recently, the Nebraska native went live on Instagram with HE Turki Alalshikh while seated cage side at the Sphere to call out Canelo once again. “Just put me in the game. Canelo-Crawford, the biggest fight in boxing. But we stay ready, though. That way, we don’t got to get ready,” Crawford declared in the clip. However, the Guadalajara native does not look like he would budge.
Knowing that the situation between the two boxers is at a stalemate currently, boxing legend Mike Tyson has offered alternatives for Terence Crawford instead of Canelo Alvarez. In a recent interview with Cam’ron and Mase on the ‘It Is What It Is’ podcast, ‘Iron Mike’ was asked by the rapper Cam’ron, “What is a good fight out there for (Terence) Crawford right now?” Mike Tyson promptly replied, “I want to see him fight 1 of the Charlo brothers and a young brother from Philadelphia, forgot his name…(Jaron) Ennis.”
The knockout artist from Philadelphia, Jaron Ennis, is the current IBF welterweight champion. Interestingly, Crawford was stripped of the IBF welterweight belt for failing to fight his mandatory challenger, Ennis himself, due to being contractually obligated to fight Errol Spence Jr in a rematch that didn’t materialize anyway. Thereafter, ‘Boots’ was elevated to the status of full champion. So, this could become a potential fight for Bud to reclaim his belt from Ennis.
Meanwhile, the former undisputed light-middleweight champion Jermell Charlo lost against Canelo Alvarez last year and hasn’t made a return to the boxing ring since. On the other hand, his brother, former middleweight champion Jermall Charlo fought Jose Benavidez Jr last year in November after a hiatus of more than two years and won via unanimous decision. He too, like Jermell, hasn’t fought in 2024 yet. Therefore, Crawford, jumping up a weight class to fight Jermall or staying at 154 to fight Jermell for a massive paycheck isn’t an improbable idea.
Moreover, Mike Tyson also didn’t warm up to the idea of the Nebraska native facing the unified super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
Weight is the issue!
In the same interview, Tyson stated that it was “too much weight” for Terence Crawford to put on for a supper middleweight fight with Canelo, and therefore he doesn’t “like that fight”. Crawford last fought at 154 lbs against Israil Madrimov in August of this year. This means that the former undisputed welterweight champion has to jump up two weight classes to fight Alvarez who is deemed a natural 168-pounder.
Additionally, Crawford’s performance against Madrimov failed to impress ‘Iron Mike’ even though he won the fight. “Too much weight (for Crawford). He had a close fight with the last guy (Madrimov) he fought because he was big and really awkward. He shouldn’t have even fought that guy,” Mike Tyson stated.
With Canelo Alvarez not too keen on fighting him, it might be best for Crawford to look for alternatives. Moreover, hanging up his boxing gloves now won’t be a bad idea either as he has nothing left to prove in boxing.
