Terence Crawford doesn’t understand why boxing fans are so incredulous at the thought of him facing Canelo Alvarez.
In the wake of his career-defining ninth-round stoppage of Errol Spence Jr. last month, Crawford, the newly crowned undisputed welterweight champion, turned heads recently when he expressed his desire to take on Alvarez, the undisputed 168-pound champion.
Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs), of course, began his career at lightweight, while Alvarez has fought mostly around the middleweight limit his entire career. Alvarez has gone as far as 175 and won a title, when he knocked out then titlist Sergey Kovalev in 2019.
A Crawford-Alvarez match-up would have seemed unthinkable only a few months ago, but the idea has begun to pick up steam, in part because Crawford has started to openly entertain it and in part because of the dominant nature of his win over Spence.
Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) is currently scheduled to defend his four 168-pound titles against undisputed 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo on Sept. 30 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“Why is it ridiculous?” Crawford said on The 3 Knockdown Rule when asked about fighting Alvarez. “I meant what I said. Listen, listen, that would be my opportunity to show everybody how great Terence Crawford really is. If Canelo win that fight (Charlo) and accept that fight and I come up to 168 and challenge him from undisputed at his weight, and that fight happen, then you know, man, I’mma just show everybody that skills pays the bills and I’ve got the skills to do it all in that ring.”
Alvarez himself has poured water over a fight with Crawford, citing the size disparity and his belief that he will be given little credit if he does indeed defeat Crawford.
Crawford, however, appears to have Alvarez firmly in his crosshairs. The native of Omaha, Nebraska, is contractually required to face Spence in a rematch later this year, if Spence decides to enforce his rematch clause. Crawford said he does not expect to fight much longer, but stated that fights with Alvarez, Spence, and Charlo all remain attractive to him.
“Not much longer (fighting) at all,” Crawford said of his career. “I don’t know right now I’m still wishy washy. I don’t know where my career is going. I for sure want the Canelo fight. I for sure want the Charlo fight but I got obligations with the Spence fight as well. That’s another fight that is intriguing. But outside of those three opponents, you know, there’s nothing for me to do in the sport of boxing anymore.”
Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.