Terence Crawford is adamant that, for both legacy and financial reward, he wants to move up in weight and challenge undisputed 168lbs champion Saul ‘Canelo‘ Alvarez.
Some in the sport believe that ‘Bud’ has the skillset to not only make the move up comfortably but also dethrone Canelo, who has only been beaten twice in his career – first in the earlier days against Floyd Mayweather and more recently in a move up to light-heavyweight against Dmitry Bivol.
Others, though, feel that the weight jump is too much too quickly for Crawford, 36, who will test the waters in his next bout against Israil Madrimov at super-welterweight.
In an interview with The Schmo, former WBA Super-Lightweight Champion Rolando Romero expressed his feelings on the fight and falls firmly in the latter camp.
He used the example of Jermell Charlo, who moved from 154 to 168 to challenge the Mexican last year but was soundly beaten over the distance and criticised post-fight for a negative performance in which he was mostly looking to survive.
“That sounds like some bulls**t. That s**t isn’t gonna happen. F**k no. If Terence Crawford moves up to fight Canelo it’s gonna be a worse fight than f***ing Charlo running around, all this stuff. I’mma tell you straight up, Canelo by murder against Crawford. They have weight classes for a reason.”
Fans will find out how Crawford handles at least a bit more bulking when he faces WBA Champion Madrimov on August 3 in Los Angeles. The bout is also for the WBO and WBC Interim titles, meaning the American, should he win, will have the chance to unify the division in quicktime if he decides to stay at the weight.
As for Canelo, he will return to Las Vegas in September to defend his four super-middleweight belts. The opponent, which is all but confirmed, will be Puerto Rico’s Edgar Berlanga.
