What’s Next For Crawford After Canelo Collapse?
Terence Crawford’s potential fight with Canelo Alvarez appears to have stalled, raising questions about whether he should retire.
Crawford is considered one of the best P4P fighters in the world. Bud is currently undefeated with a 41-0 record. He is the former Undisputed Welterweight Champion, the first person to do so in the four-belt era. He dropped Errol Spence Jr. three times before stopping him in the ninth round, which was the best win of his career. That was the second weight class in which he had become undisputed following his feat at 140 pounds. Crawford then moved up to 154 pounds and defeated Israil Madrimov to become the WBA Junior Middleweight Champion. That victory made him a four-weight world champion, as Crawford will go down as a future Hall of Famer.
He was hoping to secure his legacy-defining fight by facing Canelo at 168 pounds. Reports said that a deal had been agreed upon for Mexican Independence Weekend in September. But now it appears that Canelo will not go ahead with this fight. There is increasing speculation that he could fight Jake Paul in May. That fight would earn Canelo a bigger purse, while there is a lot less risk going into it since he would be the heavy favorite.
“I’m not asking for that [Crawford] fight. They want to make that fight because it’s a payday obviously, but I don’t want that fight,” Canelo said
Crawford’s Options
That leaves Crawford with a series of options. He could pursue the next biggest fight out there for him, which is against Jaron Ennis. Ennis is the IBF Welterweight Champion, who will face Emanuel Stanions in his next fight for the WBA belt in the hope of unifying. Ennis was meant to face Crawford at 147 when Bud became undisputed. He was his IBF mandatory. But Crawford chose to go ahead with the Spence rematch, meaning that he was stripped. The rematch broke down as Crawford moved up to 154 pounds.
The other option is to continue pursuing undisputed in a third weight class. There are opportunities to face the WBC and WBO Junior Middleweight Champion Sebastian Fundora. A victory over Fundora takes Crawford to three belts, leaving the IBF title, which is currently held by the Russian Bakhram Murtazaliev. Equally, Crawford could explore opportunities for a crossover fight with an MMA fighter. There are no names currently linked with him.
But fighters have shown there are opportunities out there in exhibitions. If Crawford were to make that move, he would recognize that he is no longer competing at the elite level in the sport. His biggest purse today was against Errol Spence Jr., with reports he earned $25 million. However, the rise of the Saudis into the sport of boxing offers opportunities for bigger purses. With the Canelo fight no longer going ahead, Crawford will really have to ask himself whether it is worth carrying on as he is in the latter part of his career.
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