Terence Crawford has accomplished too much to be anything but transparent at this career stage. When I spoke with him about his upcoming fight against Israil Madrimov, his friend Shakur Stevenson, and a potential rematch with Errol Spence Jr., Crawford seemed to shoot straight.
This flow continued on Monday when he sat down with the MMA Show’s Ariel Helwani and discussed some of the same topics. One of the primary topics swirling around Crawford is his next opponent following the August 3 scrap with Madrimov.
Assuming he beats Madrimov, which may be a concept too quickly assumed by the masses, there are cries for him to take on IBF champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis.
The Philadelphia native scored an explosive TKO victory over David Avanesyan earlier this month, and he and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, have been calling Crawford out for the past six months.
Crawford has never presented himself as the type of champion to duck opponents, but at 36 years old, he has made it clear he is more interested in a fight with fellow future Hall-of-Famer Canelo Alvarez than a bout with the up-and-coming Ennis.
A fight with Canelo would take place at 168 pounds, per Crawford.
“Where I’m at right now, I’m looking at the fight that makes the most sense and that’s not Boots,” Crawford said. “Canelo is going to bring way more to my legacy; way more to my bank account. At the end of the day, when boxing is done with, what will we have? I wanna have a legacy that people talk about for ages, and not only that, I want a bank account that will last for ages.”
Here is a look at the entire episode. Crawford’s segment begins at the 2:03:00 mark of the video.
It is tough not to respect and understand that answer. Crawford has done everything there is to do in boxing to retire as a no-doubt Hall-of-Famer.
Because he can still compete at a world-class level, he can still fight champions, but he’s smart to ensure all of his risks are calculated. If Crawford looks strong against Madrimov, he would be a favorite to defeat Ennis.
However, it’s also one of those fights that could see a legendary champion get old overnight. This deterioration often happens when someone like Crawford fights an undefeated young star like Ennis.
Crawford would collect a nice payday for beating Ennis, but it pales compared to what he’d make if he got a chance to fight Canelo. An argument could be made that Crawford and Canelo are the two most prominent fighters of the post-Floyd-Mayweather era.
Crawford’s 40-0 record with 31 KOs and championships in three different weight classes makes his resume one of the best in the sport’s history. Aside from slip-ups against Mayweather and Dmitry Bivol, no one has solved Canelo.
Though both men are aging, Crawford and Canelo are still considered elite, and it could be the biggest conventional boxing match to be made. I specify conventional because there is no telling how big a Jake Paul vs. Conor McGregor fight could be commercially.
As it is, Crawford will have a test on his hands with Madrimov, and we’ll see if any of the options have changed following this fight.