Hall of Famer Roy Jones Jr has urged Terence Crawford to face one man in particular before drawing the curtain on his exceptional professional career.
‘Bud’ Crawford etched his name into the boxing history books yet again earlier this month when he defeated Canelo Alvarez to capture the undisputed super-middleweight world championship at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
The 37-year-old Omaha-native put on arguably the best performance of his career to date against the Mexican superstar, as the three judges at ringside scored their historic bout 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113 in favour of ‘Bud’.
As Crawford enters what could well be the final chapter of his tenure, there has been plenty of debate about what he should do next, and four-weight world champion Jones has called for his countryman to pursue a showdown with one fighter in particular before he hangs up his gloves.
In an interview with Titan Play, Jones admitted that whilst he does expect ‘Bud’ to retire following his victory over Canelo, he believes the 37-year-old ‘deserves’ to be given an opportunity to face UFC superstar Ilia Topuria next.
“I think he will retire. If he retires next, it’d be the best thing. Had I retired after I beat Antonio Tarver the first time, we wouldn’t be having conversations about the greatest of all time. And we still shouldn’t, because facts are facts.
“But if Crawford does anything more, that’s what he should do [fight Ilia Topuria]. He deserves the reward at this time. Look how long he waited before he got the attention he has now. He deserves one more of those. If anything, that’s what he should do.”
Topuria has hinted on a number of occasions that he would be interested in making the transition into professional boxing, as speculation begins to grow about an intriguing crossover match-up between ‘Bud’ Crawford and the UFC lightweight champion.
