Tim Bradley says he still believes Terence Crawford can beat Canelo Alvarez at 168, even after his performance against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov.
Like Shawn Porter and other Crawford fans, Bradley was impressed by how he fought against Madrimov. He feels that he “dominated” Madrimov and “tamed him.” I didn’t see it that way, and neither did most fans.
It looked just like the 36-year-old Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) had lost a step from 13 months of inactivity, and throwing exclusively jabs.
Madrimov was landing the harder puncher in all 12 rounds, tagging Crawford repeatedly with right hands that may send sweat flying. Scoring the fight by myself, I had Madrimov winning 10-2.
Canelo vs. Crawford Not Happening
The issue with Bradley’s prediction is that there won’t be a fight between Canelo and Crawford because the cash isn’t there. Canelo has earned the suitable to ask for what he feels fights are value, and he wants $150 million, which he deserves. Nonetheless, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh has already given up on making the fight between Canelo and Crawford.
“I still think Crawford can get it done. Out of some other fighter in the sport besides Bivol, I feel Crawford is the one guy that may give Canelo problems. Still, even after seeing the Madrimov fight,” said Tim Bradley to K.O. Artist Sports about his view that he thinks Terence Crawford can potentially beat Canelo Alvarez.
Crawford’s Fear of Power
Whatever likelihood Crawford would have of winning a Mayweather-style decision against Canelo, he’d throw it out the window by fighting scared, moving across the ring to avoid getting hit. Once Crawford gets a taste of Canelo’s power, he’ll be on his bike, jabbing and making it boring like we saw against Madrimov.
“But the burden concerns me. Taking a punch from a giant puncher like that, especially Canelo, who will land, has you second-guessing yourself because all it takes is one. Nonetheless, someone as serious as Crawford, someone that is devoted and has the talents that he has and the mentality that he brings within the ring and the tenacity, I give him a rattling good likelihood of upsetting the apple cart,” said Bradley.
Crawford was bothered by Madrimov’s power last Saturday night, and you would see that he was afraid. With Canelo landing the identical punches Madrimov did, Crawford wouldn’t last long before he’s stopped. If he didn’t get knocked out, he can be forced to run, and he won’t be given a controversial decision against Canelo like he did against Madrimov.
“He won’t be the favourite within the fight. Canelo will probably be. He’s,” said Bradley when told that Turki Alalshikh criticized Canelo for taking “easy fights.”
Crawford won’t be the favourite unless Canelo looks poor against Edgar Berlanga on September 14th. If Canelo struggles against Berlanga or loses, the oddsmakers might make Crawford the favourite. Canelo would must look really bad for the oddsmakers to put in Crawford as the favourite because he looked poor himself against Israil Madrimov.
“Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis is a very good fighter, but when Crawford fights him, I still think Crawford beats him. He might even knock him out, but I still think Crawford has goods to do what he must do to win that fight,” said Bradley.
Crawford probably won’t ever fight Boots Ennis, so it’s immaterial whether he would or wouldn’t. Given Crawford’s performance against Madrimov, I might pick Ennis by knockout. If Crawford tries to fight Boots, he gets knocked out.
He’ll lose a call if he runs, as he did in round 12 against Madrimov. Ennis is the higher fighter at this point, and he’s a more talented fighter than Crawford ever was. I’ve watched all of Crawford’s fights since he turned pro, in order that makes me an authority.
Crawford’s Unentertaining Past
Crawford was never entertaining during his profession the best way Boots Ennis was, and that’s why it took so long for him to grow to be popular. He was boring to observe. Return and take a look at Crawford’s early fights against Ricky Burns, Ray Beltran, and Viktor Postol, and also you’ll see what I’m talking about. He was never entertaining like Ennis’ fights.
“Yeah, it was slightly more difficult, but to me, Crawford dominated because he did what he needed to do,” said Bradley about Crawford’s win over WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov. “I expected Madrimov to be more aggressive. He was the larger, stronger guy. He was the bully, but he was tamed due to Crawford.”
Crawford didn’t tame, however it’s comprehensible why Bradley would say that. He’s been carrying Crawford’s water for a few years and has been a giant fan of his. You wouldn’t expect him to vary his support for him in his biggest fight.
Crawford ate right hands from Madrimov your complete fight, making it difficult to offer him greater than two rounds. The eleventh round was Crawford’s best in your complete fight. Some fans feel he won the twelfth, but after re-watching the fight, Crawford took too many hard right hands from Madrimov to win.
Madrimov Landed Higher Shots
The punches Crawford landed within the twelfth were much weaker than Madrimov’s. They looked like a 140-pounder hitting a middleweight. They’d no effect on Madrimov, whereas the punches he landed snapped Crawford’s head back, sending sweat flying.
It didn’t seem like Crawford tamed Madrimov. He was mostly jabbing him and getting hit with hard right hands that were snapping his head back round after round. In every round, Madrimov landed the harder, cleaner shots.
Crawford’s punches were mainly all jabs, which makes it hard to attain many rounds for him unless you’re scoring it by amateur boxing standards. The professional game is different obviously.
“I assumed he looked great. Those last two rounds are what he needed to do from the beginning. Jump on him and throw those combos since the dude [Madrimov] didn’t have anything for him when he threw his combos,” said Bradley.
In re-watching the fight, Crawford didn’t combos in any respect in round 11. It was all single punches from Crawford. Bradley goes by memory, is probably going dim by now, but Crawford din;t throw combos in any respect within the eleventh.
In round 12, Crawford did throw some combos, but he paid for it by getting hit with some massive shots by Madrimov. The round was hard to attain because although Crawford landed more punches, Madrimov’s shots were much harder blows.
There was no comparison. Where Crawford arguably gave away the round is when he got on his bike within the last five seconds and ran from Madrimov relatively than standing and fighting.
That wasn’t a very good look on Crawford’s part to run like that. Bradley likely has a positive spin to clarify why Crawford did that, however it didn’t look good for him to try this in the ultimate round after getting hit hard again and again by Madrimov.
If this had been the Canelo that Crawford was fighting, he would have lost the twelfth round resulting from that move.
