David Benavidez Doubts Crawford’s Move to 168 lbs for Canelo Fight: “Weight Classes For a Reason”

David Benavidez says he doesn’t like the idea of Terence Crawford moving up three weight classes to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his undisputed super middleweight championship on September 13th. Benavidez states that there are “weight classes for a reason,” and believes that it could be too much for Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs).

Canelo-Crawford: Golden Parachute Fight

The $100 million that Crawford is receiving for the fight means he can comfortably retire with his golden parachute, no matter how badly he loses. He’s still getting the payday. It’s an absurd amount given how poor his resume is

“I don’t like it only because Terence Crawford is coming up three weight classes,” said David Benavidez to the Ring Magazine channel about his thoughts on Canelo Alvarez defending his undisputed super middleweight championship against Terence Crawford in September.

Benavidez makes a good point. Crawford is essentially moving up three weight classes to challenge Canelo at 168. He’s doing it without a tune-up to acclimate himself, which is a careless thing for him to do.

There’s also the inactivity at play for Bud Crawford. He’s coming off a year-long layoff, and that’s a long time for any fighter to be inactive before taking on an elite-level champion.

Benavidez Doubts Crawford’s 168lb Move

“I don’t want to say that he [Crawford] doesn’t have the ability to hurt him. He obviously does. He’s really technically sound, and he’s a great fighter. Sometimes, three weight classes is different,” said Benavidez about Terence having gone too far with his move up to 168.

Canelo-Crawford doesn’t even seem like a real fight. It’s more of a golden parachute, a final payday for the soon-to-be 38-year-old Crawford before he retires. He showed that he lacks the talent or the desire to swim with the sharks at 154. So, he’s not going to return to that division for a lesser payday to get taken apart by the younger fighters.

Weight Classes for a Reason

“It’s like me if I go up and I try to fight Anthony Joshua or ‘Gypsy King’ [Tyson Fury at heavyweight]. I’d believe I could win if I don’t get hit, but if I get hit, you got to worry about that. We’ll see. You never want to count Terence Crawford out, but there’s weight classes for a reason,” said Benavidez.

Crawford already showed that he’d reached his upper limit when he moved up to 154, and labored to a questionable 12-round unanimous decision win over WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov last August. The size and power of Madrimov bothered Crawford in that fight, and he arguably lost.

Terence got favorable scoring, which saved his hide, but the fans saw what happened. He reached the point where he could no longer dominate like before. The size, power, and youth of Madrimov were a nightmare for Crawford.

Crawford’s Immediate Title Shot

Now, Terence is going up two additional weight classes and being given an immediate title shot against Canelo without having to work for the opportunity. Turki Alalshikh hooked him up.