Crawford No Longer Wants To Face Canelo At 168, Favors A Fight At 160

In today’s boxing news, Terence Crawford no longer wants to face Canelo Alvarez at super middleweight by instead seeking a bout at 160 against the Mexican.

Following Bud’s win over Errol Spence Jr. to become undisputed in a second weight class, Crawford turned his attention towards Canelo.

The welterweight initially expressed his desire to face Canelo at a catchweight of 158 pounds, something which Alvarez ruled out.

After all, the Mexican has not fought at 160 pounds since his fight against Danny Jacobs. That was all the way back in 2019, something which appears unlikely now since Canelo has moved up t0 168 and 175 since then.

As a result, Bud responded by stating he would jump up three weight classes to face Canelo at super middleweight, with the aim becoming a three-time undisputed champion.

However, things have changed since then. Alvarez dominated Jermell Charlo after the latter moved up two weight classes from 154 to try and become the king at 168.

Crawford On Canelo

The performance showed an Alvarez that was in control, which may have caused Bud to rethink matters. And yet, the following interview may shed some light.

In a prior interview, Canelo did suggest that he would move down from 168 to 160 to face Spence. That is why Crawford has questioned why the Mexican cannot do the same when it comes to him.

Lol 🧏🏿‍♂️what’s y’all thoughts on @Canelo saying he can make a fight with Spence at 160 but for me he say I can’t make the weight. Wouldn’t make a difference just a thought.🤣 https://t.co/6ANMue9K73

— Terence Crawford (@terencecrawford) October 8, 2023

Benavidez Sr. On Canelo

Aside from that, Jose Benavidez Sr. has expressed doubts over whether Canelo is the same fighter anymore. Alvarez has been linked with facing Benavidez Sr.’s son, David Benavidez, as the latter is the WBC mandatory at 168.

As of now, a mandatory has not been called while the attempts at making a fight happen have also failed. However, following Canelo’s win in which he failed to knock out Charlo, Benavidez Sr. had worries over the Mexican’s power.

After all, Jermell had moved up from 154 but that was not enough for Canelo to stop him. This was despite the fact that he did drop Charlo in the seventh round.

“I was going for Canelo. I wanted him to beat Charlo and look impressive and maybe knock him out in order for him to get all that confidence and maybe that confidence would make him fight David Benavidez. To me, he looked good. He went in there, condition looked good but I just think the power is not there anymore. He had a lot of opportunities to finish him but Charlo was there and he never really got hurt. Yea he dropped him but it was a flash knockdown. He got up no problem and Canelo couldn’t finish him,” Benavidez Sr.

Ultimately, Canelo is at the age of 33, showing that he is entering into the latter parts of his career. And the focus moving forward may not be on stopping opponents, but simply doing enough to get the win.

Alvarez’s calculated moves are the reason why he is a four-division world champion, who has only lost twice in his career. And there is no getting away from that.