Terence Crawford wants to end his career by fighting Saul ‘Canelo‘ Alvarez for the undisputed super-middleweight championship.
Crawford was last in the ring for a historic four-belt welterweight win, three divisions below where the Mexican currently holds all the titles.
Whilst many believe the gulf in bulk is simply too much even for a talent like Crawford, others in the sport back him to pull it off should Canelo come around to the idea of the fight.
A man with a unique insight is Amir Khan, who moved up from 147 to 160 to face Canelo back in 2016. He was knocked out in the sixth round – a punch he says changed his career. Years later in 2019 he would lose to Crawford by TKO in the same round of their welterweight bout. He has since trained with the man from Omaha.
Speaking last year, Khan backed Crawford to win the fight with the right game-plan.
“I think that Crawford could beat him, cause Crawford is a big 147 fighter, and he’s strong as well which a lot of people don’t give him the credit for. I think that fight, if it does happen and as long as Crawford stays away and just boxes and is smart, he can win that fight.
I think Crawford’s a better fighter than [Jermell] Charlo, smarter as well and he switch hits, so that would be a very good fight.”
However, in a more recent interview with Boxing News, the popular Brit warned the smaller man off taking the fight.
“I wouldn’t want Crawford to go into a hard fight like that. At the end of the day, the guy is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, why does he need to give away so much weight? I know what it’s like giving away so much weight. It’s not worth it.
He’s got a great career, family, Canelo has got that power that can knock you out … Both fighters are getting older, even Crawford. Power’s always gonna be with you, and it can still hurt. So I wouldn’t want him to take that fight, but it’s up to him … You have to respect weight divisions.”
The 36-year-old will make the first step up in weight on August 3 when he faces 154lbs champion Israil Madrimov, the performance being a good measuring stick as to whether or not he can pack on enough pounds to jump two more divisions for Canelo.
