Canelo Alvarez says he saw enough of what Terence Crawford is all about in his last fight against Israil Madrimov at 154 to know that it might be an “easy fight” for him in the event that they met at 168. Nevertheless, Canelo reiterates that a fight with Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) will only occur if his price is met, which he previously said was $150 million.
(Credit: Rey Del Rio/Premier Boxing Champions)
Crawford continues to be hoping the Canelo fight might be next, however the only person on planet Earth who can deliver that golden parachute retirement payday for the Nebraska native is His Excellency Turki Alalshikh. The worth tag for Alvarez could also be too high for even him.
Whatever Canelo asks for, Crawford would also need a sizeable check, and it doesn’t balance out ultimately. Assuming Turki indulges Canelo by giving him the $150 million smackers, Crawford would probably want a few of that, believing he rates $75 million. He’d wish to wet his beak on a few of that money, too.
Ultimately, this isn’t a Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao form of fight through which revenue could be pulled in massive numbers. Mayweather-Pacquiao grossed $600 million for his or her fight on May 2, 2015, but those two fighters were proven PPV attractions.
Crawford has never shown to be a PPV draw. He’s only had one successful PPV event against Errol Spence in July 2023. That fight brought in 700,000 buys. Before that, Crawford’s highest PPV fight was against Amir Khan, bringing in only 150,000 buys.
His Excellency Turki could be higher off specializing in lining up Canelo against the winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol fight because that may have a greater likelihood of bringing in revenue than a Canelo-Crawford fight.
“What we saw in his last fight with him [Israil Madrimov]. That’s why there are weight classes. That’s what I feel. It’s a straightforward fight for me,” said Canelo Alvarez to the Manouk Akopyan YouTube channel when asked why he feels a fight between him and Terence Crawford could be easy.
Crawford didn’t look good in any respect in his debut at 154 on August 3r against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov. He barely beat Madrimov, and looked weak, and really old at 36.
Unlike 39-year-old Beterbiev, who’s an enormous puncher with an impressive inside game, Crawford is more of a speed fighter who wins by outboxing his opponents. Those kinds of fighters don’t do well after they hit their mid-30s, especially after they’re as inactive as Crawford.
“He’s moving rather a lot; he’s fighter and boxer. He’s going to be complicated in the primary three rounds or 4 rounds, but then I figure him out, and that’s what I feel,” said Canelo about how a possible fight with Crawford would play out.
Canelo might even get to Crawford in the primary two or three rounds along with his power shots because he won’t let him jab from the space without countering. That’s all Crawford did against Madrimov: jab and move around, making it a boring chess match. Canelo won’t put up with that dull stuff without clocking Crawford.
“Might be, why not? We’re in boxing,” said Canelo when asked if he could potentially fight Crawford, David Benavidez, and the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol fight winner. “You recognize already. I’ve already told you,” said Canelo on the asking price for him to conform to fight those guys. “You recognize the reply, buddy.”
Canelo is saying here that he’s not going to entertain any of those fights unless he’s given $100 million to $200 million, and it doesn’t seem realistic. David Benavidez is fighting at 175, and he looked awful in his debut in that weight class recently. He shouldn’t even be up for discussion.
