Andre Ward remains to be pushing for unified tremendous middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez to struggle 154-pounder Terence Crawford as a result of he thinks the Nebraska native might “outbox” the Mexican star. Ward doesn’t perceive why Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) gained’t give the 37-year-old Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) a shot.
Ought to Canelo Struggle Crawford?
Canelo has already mentioned it’s not a struggle he’s taken with as a result of it’s a no-win sort of match, the place he’s criticized it doesn’t matter what occurs. The one one which comes out of the struggle in a terrific place is Crawford, who wouldn’t be criticized if he loses as a result of Canelo fights two weight lessons above him and is way heavier.
Ward says nothing about Crawford not displaying initiative to maneuver as much as 168 and beat the highest fighters to earn a title shot towards Canelo.
Why Isn’t Crawford Incomes the Struggle?
Individuals must earn issues by means of arduous work, and Ward isn’t urgent Crawford to maneuver as much as 168 and earn the struggle towards Canelo by beating these contenders:
– Christian Mbilli– Diego Pacheco– Osleys Iglesias– Jaime Munguia– Caleb Plant
If Crawford have been hungry, he might struggle all 5 of these guys within the subsequent 12 months and be knocking on Canelo’s door for a world title shot by early 2026. Why isn’t Crawford doing that? Is he afraid of dropping to 1 or all of these fighters and being weeded out of the Canelo sweepstakes?
Crawford is coming off an in depth 12-round unanimous Choice in his debut at 154 towards 11-fight novice Israil Madrimov on August third. He barely gained that struggle in his first struggle at junior middleweight, and he hasn’t fought any of the opposite killers at 154, like Bakhram Murtazaliev and Vergil Ortiz Jr.
Crawford has by no means been at 160, and that will be a logical step to work his approach to combating Canelo. Why isn’t Crawford combating IBF and WBO middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly? Does Crawford really feel he doesn’t must work for issues in life? Different fighters are working, so why isn’t he?
“The game is different. There’s a lot of strategy going on with guys not taking fights and why they’re not taking fights,” mentioned Andre Ward to Stephen A. Jackson’s YouTube channel. “I just like the Terence Crawford vs. Canelo Alvarez struggle.
The sport is completely different. And Crawford is a part of it. Why isn’t he taking dangerous fights towards Murataliev and Vergil Jr. at 154? Why isn’t Crawford combating Janibek at 160 or David Benavidez? There are fighters that aren’t taking fights, and Crawford is considered one of them. Ward simply isn’t calling him out for ducking guys.
“A lot of people say I’m crazy for saying that Terence Crawford can win that fight. My thing is, if you don’t think Terence Crawford can outbox Canelo Alvarez, you may have to check your eyes,” mentioned Ward.
The 37-year-old Crawford barely beat Madrimov in his debut at 154, and it’s apparent from that struggle that he’s not going to chop the mustard if he jumps two weight lessons to struggle Canelo at 168.
Crawford might make issues simpler on Canelo if he moved as much as 168 and beat Iglesias, Pacheco, Mbilli, Plant, and Munguia. If he can beat these guys or David Morrell, he’d doubtless get a title shot towards Canelo.
Canelo’s Historical past of Preventing Smaller Opponents
“There’s a reason why Canelo isn’t jumping into that fight because he fought Amir Khan, which was two weight classes below him [correction: one weight class]. So, the weight thing isn’t that big a deal,” mentioned Ward.
Khan solely went up one weight class, not two, when Canelo fought him in 2016. Canelo knew Khan would come to struggle. With Crawford, he already is aware of he’s going to make use of the Mayweather blueprint by boxing and shifting all evening lengthy.
His coach, Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre, already mentioned he’s going to have Crawford use the Mayweather recreation plan. In hindsight, BoMac ought to have saved his yap shut as a result of he gave Canelo much more of a motive to not struggle him.
“That’s a fight [Canelo vs. Crawford] I’d really like to see. That’s a dangerous fight for both fighters for different reasons. That’s a fight I would like to see, and that’s an all-time great fight that people [would like to see],” mentioned Ward.
“The assumption is from the public that he’s [Canelo] 30 lbs heavier. That would be a great classic fight,” mentioned Ward,
