Andre Ward still believes Terence Crawford will defeat unified three-belt 168-lb champion Canelo Alvarez despite his lackluster showing in his debut at 154 against ‘Little GGG’ Israil Madrimov on August 3rd. He got hit a lot by the GGG clone in that fight.
Ward admits that he doesn’t believe the Canelo-Crawford fight will happen, and he’s right about that. Crawford has shown no willingness to move up to 168 to show he’s capable of existing with the sharks in that weight division.
That lack of wanting to prove himself has resulted in him forfeiting his chances of meeting King Canelo. It takes courage and ambition for a fighter to prove himself.
The Proving Fights Crawford At 168
- David Morrell
- David Benavidez
- Osleys Iglesias
- Diego Pacheco
- Edgar Berlanga
Andre Not Giving Up On Crawford
Ward is standing behind the 37-year-old Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs), believing he can beat Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) or anybody until they “prove” to him that he can be beaten—the 11-fight novice Madrimov came awfully close to defeating Crawford, losing a close 12-round unanimous decision by the scores 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113.
Crawford’s performance showed that he was not physically designed to fight above the 147-lb division. He’s too small, weak, and old to fight the talents at 154, and 168 would be a pure disaster for Crawford.
Obviously, the money would be a cushion for the ego hit Crawford would take, losing to the face of boxing Canelo. The dough that Crawford would make from fighting Canelo would be a salve for his wounded pride, as he could cry all the way to the bank.
“I’m going with Terence Crawford. A big weight jump, a dangerous fight, but somebody has got to prove to me that they can break Terence Crawford’s will, and he can’t figure it out against you,” said commentator Andre Ward to Boxing News, picking Terence Crawford over Canelo Alvarez if the two fight.
Crawford’s trainer, Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre, has already said that if Canelo agrees to a fight, the blueprint he’ll use is the one Floyd Mayweather Jr. did by boxing from the outside and moving. In other words, Canelo would have to chase Crawford around the ring all night, and he’s not about to fight one of those types of safety-first guys at this stage of his career.
“It ain’t no disrespect toward Canelo, but I’ve said this for the last couple of years. I’m not betting against Terence Crawford against nobody right now. You’ve got to show me that you can beat him, but I don’t think we’ll get that fight,” said Ward.
It would help if Crawford showed that he’s willing to fight David Benavidez, Artur Beteriev, or Dmitry Bivol to show that he deserves a fight against Canelo.
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