This whole notion that there are weight classes for a reason apparently doesn’t apply to Terence Crawford. For the 35-year-old Nebraska, native, things have been easy for him in the ring. Maybe too easy. Even in the biggest fight of his life against Errol Spence Jr., there wasn’t a single competitive moment as Crawford dominated from start to ninth-round finish.
At this point, Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) is tired of doing the same mundane routine which involves fighting his mandatories. Although he could snag a few more title defenses for a hefty check, the pound-for-pound star is looking to make what he believes is the biggest fight in boxing against Canelo Alvarez.
Slender frame aside, Crawford acknowledges that in order to take on Alvarez, he’ll need to bulk up considerably. It isn’t every day that a fighter looks to add 21 pounds and move up three weight classes. Crawford, however, isn’t your typical fighter.
There isn’t a single soul at 147 pounds that interests him. The same goes for the 154 and 160-pound divisions. For most of the boxing public, a hypothetical showdown between them has now been fantasized about. Abel Sanchez, on the other hand, cringes at the mere thought of Crawford squaring off with the future Hall of Famer.
There’s no doubt that Crawford looked incredible against Spence. But that doesn’t mean he should try his hand at Alvarez. Now, if Crawford is offered life-changing money, that’s another story. But even if he is, the risk of getting seriously hurt should weigh heavily on the mind of the undisputed welterweight champ.
“Crawford looked like a million dollars against Errol but that can’t happen,” said Sanchez to Little Giant Boxing when asked to give his thoughts on a possible Crawford vs. Alvarez showdown. “It shouldn’t happen. If it’s a money grab then that’s ok but as far as moving up three weight divisions, that shouldn’t happen.”
With all of this talk of Alvarez fighting Crawford, Jermell Charlo begins to clear his throat. The 33-year-old refuses to be summarily dismissed as he’s scheduled to face Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) in the coming weeks.
Sanchez doesn’t consider Charlo a better all-around fighter than Crawford but he’s bigger and possibly stronger, despite also having to move up several weight classes.
For a moment, Sanchez wants to live in a theoretical world. So, if Alvarez goes on to take care of business against Charlo and eventually faces Crawford, things could get ugly. For the entirety of his career, the former multi-divisional champ has crushed his competition. If, however, he faces Alvarez, Sanchez is convinced that Crawford will find out what it feels like to be on the wrong end of a nasty beating.
“I don’t think it would be competitive. It would be a fight that would be dominated by Canelo.”