Terence Crawford is undefeated in 41 contests and heading towards a mega fight with Saul ‘Canelo‘ Alvarez.
Both men are four-weight world champions, though Crawford will look to make that five against the elite Mexican later this year when he moves up to super-middleweight, providing all goes well with Canelo’s unification bout against William Scull in May.
With his most impressive win coming in an undisputed welterweight fight against Errol Spence Jr in 2023, many in the sport feel the jump up to 168 pounds is too much for ‘Bud’ Crawford.
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In August of last year he made the first tentative step, moving to 154 to dethrone WBA World Champion Israil Madrimov. The tricky fight saw Crawford end an eleven fight stoppage streak when he beat the Uzbek titlist via unanimous decision.
It was undoubtedly a close fight, with Madrimov doing all he could to make it awkward. His promoter, Eddie Hearn, said in the aftermath that Crawford did not do enough to take the belt. That is a sentiment Canelo shares, as he told the media that his future rival lost before conceding he could maybe see a draw.
“For me, I think he lost. He lost the fight. Or draw, it could be the other side. He knows [now] why there is weight classes.”
According to CompuBox, Crawford outlanded Madrimov buy just 11 punches come the final bell, though he scored more in seven of the 12 rounds. He was busier, however, throwing 433 to Madrimov’s 275. The judges scored the fight 116-112, 115-113, and 115-113 all for ‘Bud’. Madrimov has since lost to Vergil Ortiz Jr by decision, halting any progress back to the belt.
Whilst Canelo faces Scull in a matter of weeks, Crawford will remain in the gym, focusing on packing on 14 pounds in the most efficient way to cause what would be seen as one of the defining victories of the modern era.
