This time last year Terence Crawford was the undisputed welterweight champion but now a new man is chasing that achievement.
In his last outing Crawford delivered a career defining performance against fellow pound-for-pound fighter Errol Spence Jr. In what many were billing as a 50/50 contest, ‘Bud’ dominated from the opening bell, knocking his opponent down three times before the referee finally called a halt to proceedings in the ninth round.
Since then the 36-year-old has made it clear that he only wants legacy-building fights before he hangs up the gloves, with super-middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez being his main target.
For his next bout Crawford will move up one division and take on WBA 154 champion Israil Madrimov in a bid to become a four-weight champion.
Should ‘Bud’ have remained at 147, Ennis was seen as his only competition. The 27-year-old from Philadelphia has turned in a string of eye-catching performances to bolster his undefeated record to 32 wins with 29 coming by way of knockout.
Speaking to Fight Hub TV late last year about the possible match-up, Crawford’s old promoter, Bob Arum, called Ennis a ‘tremendous’ boxer, but believes his old fighter is ‘unbeatable’ at that weight.
“I know that ‘Boots’ Ennis is a tremendous fighter and a great talent, whether he would stand a chance with Crawford, I don’t really know, because at 147 Crawford is, I think, unbeatable, the same way Shakur is at 135.
But Ennis is probably, other than Crawford, is probably the best welterweight out there.”
Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh has expressed interest in making the fight at super-welterweight given it’s highly unlikely Crawford will be dropping back down.
