The aftermath of Terence Crawford’s August 3rd match against Israil Madrimov has arrived, and the new WBA world super welterweight champion still has plenty of challenges ahead. None more so challenging than undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, who may be deemed a bit too much for Crawford―who failed to put down Madrimov in a tight competitive match-up.
Whether the fight will happen seems very much up to Canelo Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KO’s) who according to Generel Entertainment Authority (GEA) chairman Turki Alalshikh has not responded to contract offers for him to face Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KO’s).
“As I [said] before to ESPN, I [gave] him [Canelo Alvarez] the offer [to fight Terence Crawford]. If he’s smart, he will accept it.”
Alvarez and Crawford have heavily been linked to fighting each other over this past year, but thus far the two have had different responses. The fight itself seems to only have emerged because of Crawford’s public challenge to face Alvarez, while Alvarez himself publicly denied interest to face Crawford.
Alalshikh’s words suggests the fight is in play given offers had been sent to Alvarez, though it has turned out that Alvarez has not yet responded to those offers. Given the lucrative backing that Alalshikh presents, there is at least a monetary reason for Alvarez to face Crawford―with who he can purportedly make more against than Edgar Berlanga (22-0, 17 KO’s) who he faces next in September.
Only the conclusion of the Alvarez-Berlanga bout will determine what Alvarez will decide, which opens up a discussion on who Crawford could face instead if the Alvarez bout were not to emerge.
The most resounding candidate continues to remain WBC and WBO super welterweight (154 lbs) champion Sebastian Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KO’s), who is still facing the potential relinquishment of his WBO title if he refuses to face the WBO 154 lbs interim champion―which is currently Terence Crawford since his August 3rd match over Israil Madrimov.
However, Crawford will first need to indicate who he will actually fight. Though Crawford has expressed interest in facing Alvarez numerous times, he has notably not indicated whether he would do so after his fight with Madrimov, or whether he would pass over a Fundora fight to face Crawford.
The WBO set a deadline for Fundora to face the WBO interim champion by December 31st, suggesting there is a chance for the sanctioning body to order a Fundora-Crawford fight over the next couple of days or weeks. Though Crawford now possesses the WBA 154 lbs title, he is still subject to a mandate by the WBO due to also being its interim champion.
Other potential fights on the horizon, in a scenario where a WBO mandate and Alvarez fight is absent, may be another unification fight with IBF 154 lbs titleholder Bakhram Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 KO’s), who first became a world champion in April. Given the IBF has not yet ordered Murtazaliev to face any contender―and given Murtazaliev himself has shown interest in facing Fundora in a unification bout―there is an opportunity for Crawford to get a different unification fight for himself if his connections with Turki Alalshikh allow for the fight to be negotiated.
While Crawford could also face 154 lbs contenders such as Tim Tszyu (24-1, 17 KO’s), Crawford’s current status as a world champion at super welterweight and advanced age of 37 years old suggests that unification bouts or a fight with Alvarez are more feasible at this point in time.
Some might point towards IBF welterweight champion Jaron Ennis (32-0, 29 KO’s) being an option for Crawford but given his recent fight at 154 lbs, he is more likely to vacate the remaining of his welterweight (147 lbs) titles which would heavily diminish the attractiveness of a Crawford-Ennis fight. With Crawford having also signaled he did not want to pursue a fight with Ennis, there is even less chance of this fight occurring ever again, unless Ennis would move up to 154 lbs.
