Terence Crawford ended an 11-fight stoppage streak when he beat Israil Madrimov over the distance in his super-welterweight debut.
Though ‘Bud’ won the WBA World Title in the bout, adding a fourth division to his resume and cementing himself as a top pound-for-pound fighter, the fact that he couldn’t stop the tough Madrimov led some to believe that his pursuit of a fight against Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez a further two divisions up is a step too far.
Canelo has never been dropped in 66 fights, possessing undoubtedly one of the best chins in the business, and has said directly that Crawford is too small to compete with him.
During the post-fight press conference, Madrimov said there was ‘no doubt’ Crawford has impressive power.
“There’s no doubt on his power, there’s no doubt on his skills. I knew that and that’s why this fight was so close.”
However, speaking to Mill City Boxing a little later, the former champion then appeared to back the theory that Crawford’s power won’t be as key of an attribute if he does make the further jump up. He said ‘it’s regular power’ and explained why.
“It’s regular power because he’s a [smaller] weight going up. It’s normal, you know, his punch.”
Crawford is adamant that his skillset is enough to make history against Canelo, however he may not even get the chance to prove it. Though the unified super-middleweight world champion has said he will take the fight for the right price, it has been reported that he is also actively speaking to other potential opponents.
