He Walked Away On Top And Nobody Will Let Him Stay There
Right then. Terence Crawford retired last December. Five-division world champion. Three-weight undisputed. Unbeaten.
The last thing he did before he went was move up two divisions and outbox Canelo Alvarez over twelve rounds at 168lb as a considerable underdog. If you were designing a perfect exit for a great fighter you would struggle to improve on it.
Nine months later, Turki Alalshikh has reportedly told Mike Coppinger that he wants Bud back, and that the two names he would rather see opposite him are Canelo again or Ryan Garcia.
The Rematch Is A Non-Fight
Let's not beat around the bush. Crawford-Canelo two solves nothing.
The first one was not a robbery, it was not a controversy, and it was not close enough to demand a sequel. Crawford was the smaller man, the older man and the one giving up two divisions, and he still won it clearly. That is the whole story.
And there is a queue. Canelo has to get past Christian Mbilli in Riyadh on October 31 first, and that is not a formality — Mbilli is unbeaten, he is enormous for the weight and he has been waiting years for exactly this. If Canelo loses that, the rematch talk evaporates overnight.
The Garcia Fight Is A Different Animal Entirely
Now this one I understand completely.
Garcia has just retained the WBC welterweight title by taking Conor Benn out in a round and a bit. He is the most watchable man in the sport, he sells on personality as much as performance, and he has said for years that he wants Crawford.
Commercially it is enormous. Competitively, on paper, Crawford wins it comfortably — he is the better technician by a distance, he switches stances mid-round, and he has never been troubled by a man who leads with his chin looking for one shot.
But. Crawford turns thirty-nine this month. He has not boxed in over a year. Garcia is twenty-eight with real power and the sort of hand speed that does not need a second invitation. Layoffs at that age do not show up in sparring, they show up in round eight in front of twenty thousand people.
And Where Exactly Is Boots Ennis In All This?
Here is the part that tells you what this era actually values.
Jaron Ennis is the most obvious opponent for Crawford on pure boxing merit and has been for two years. He is the best welterweight-to-light-middleweight talent of his generation, he stopped Xander Zayas in June to unify at 154, and he has called Crawford out repeatedly.
He is not on the wishlist. Not because he is not good enough — because he is not famous enough. That is the whole sport in one line.
Luke’s Verdict
Make no mistake, I would watch Crawford box anybody. He is one of the four or five best fighters I have seen in my lifetime and there is nothing left for him to prove to me.
And that is exactly why he should stay where he is. Great fighters do not get to choose how the comeback ends, and the ones who go back for the cheque almost always leave something behind on the floor.
My call: Crawford does come back, once, and it is Ryan Garcia rather than Canelo. The money is bigger, the fight sells itself, and Alalshikh knows which of the two the public would actually pay for.
My prediction if it happens: Crawford by late stoppage, and it is closer than anyone expects for six rounds. More pound-for-pound coverage on our news page.