Turki Alalshikh Believes Terence Crawford ‘Only Wants Canelo’ – But Is He Right?
Boxing puppet master Turki Alalshikh revealed in an interview with The Stomping Ground podcast on Friday that he has sent an offer to Terence Crawford to fight Vergil Ortiz Jr. but believes “he only wants Canelo”.
“I don’t think Crawford will fight anyone but [Saul] Canelo [Alvarez]. This is my opinion,” Alalshikh said. “We gave [Crawford an] offer for Ortiz. I don’t think he will take it. He only wants Canelo.”
While it is only Alalshikh’s “opinion”, his opinion carries plenty of weight, particularly when it concerns the business of Crawford.
The Saudi Arabian has taken a central role in the Nebraskan’s career in recent months, engineering his shot at the WBA super-welterweight world title against Israil Madrimov earlier this month and putting their fight at the top of his first Riyadh Season show in the United States.
Ever since Alalshikh first touted the idea of Crawford v Canelo, it has always felt it was him, instead of the fighter, who was driving the idea. Admittedly, Crawford said in the ring following his narrow points win over Madrimov in Los Angeles that he was receptive but fell short of directly calling out the Mexican.
Canelo Dismisses Fight With Crawford
The hype surrounding a proposed bout between boxing’s two biggest stars cooled following Crawford’s fight with Madrimov. Competing in his first bout at 154lbs, it was evident after 12 rounds that ‘Bud’ had likely reached his weight limit; his power, so destructive from lightweight to welterweight, barely made a dent on the Uzbek.
The idea that Crawford could climb up to 168lbs and provide a competitive challenge to the much bigger unified champion Canelo – a famously hard puncher with a granite chin – now seems fanciful.
Of course, the interest among fans would still be there if the fight does get made and Crawford would bank a meteorically high career payday, but Alalshaikh’s opinion that Canelo is the “only” opponent Bud wants doesn’t quite add up.
Crawford, who turns 37 next month, has a limited window remaining to maximize his earnings, which provides logic to his interest in fighting Canelo. However, every fight needs two interested parties, and Canelo has distanced himself from the possibility of taking on Bud.
Alvarez was recently contacted by Alalshikh’s people, but the Mexican revealed that any potential talks would have to wait until after his September 14 fight with Edgar Berlanga. That did not go down well with Alalshikh, who launched an astonishing tirade aimed at Canelo on social media including claims he has “disregarded” the fight and moved on.
Crawford Should Focus On Undisputed
So, if Alvarez isn’t completely interested and Alalshikh himself said he “doesn’t want it anymore”, it would seem strange if Crawford is the one pushing to make it happen.
Instead, it would make much more logical sense if Bud were focused on taking over an increasingly intriguing super-welterweight division. In addition to collecting the WBA title against Madrimov, Bud earned the WBO’s interim belt, putting him on a collision course with champion Sebastian Fundora, who also holds the WBC title.
The WBO had previously ordered Fundora to fight Crawford by the end of 2024 or be stripped of the title. Bud’s trainer, Robert Garcia, believes his fighter will be ready to fight again in February and if that is against Fundora, the WBO would likely show some flexibility to ensure a unification bout.
It means Crawford, presuming he defeats Fundora, would collect three of the division’s four world titles in the space of two fights over six months, leaving the IBF as the solitary strap not in his possession.
IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev is in talks to fight former WBO champion Tim Tszyu, creating the prospect of the winner fighting Crawford for undisputed.
Ortiz A Potential Obstacle
That seems to be the obvious and most straightforward path ahead for Crawford, who would be two victories away from being the first fighter to become a four-belt undisputed champion in three weight classes.
The potential spanner in the works to those plans is Ortiz. The Texan claimed the WBC’s interim title last week with a dubious majority-decision victory over Serhii Bohachuk, despite getting knocked down twice, and Alalshikh stated pre-fight alongside Ortiz’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, that he would make Ortiz v Crawford next if he was victorious in Las Vegas.
How much interest Crawford would have in a fight with Ortiz, where he would be facing a ferocious puncher in a bout with no additional world titles on the line, remains to be seen. With only a handful of fights remaining in his career, it seems an unnecessary risk at this stage when there are so many more rewards available elsewhere.
What Crawford can bank on is the support of Alalshikh, who will happily put together more stacked Riyadh Season cards with Bud as the headline act. Whether that is against Ortiz, Fundora, or indeed Canelo next, Crawford can expect to be handsomely compensated, which is his primary objective at this stage of his career.
After all, Crawford’s motto has become: “If the money’s right, let’s make the fight.”
