Roy Jones Jr. says Canelo Alvarez must prove that he can beat Terence Crawford if he moves up to 168, but not vice versa.
Canelo hasn’t said whether he’ll fight Crawford, and it could come down to whether His Excellency Turki Alalshikh can negotiate the fight. After Crawford’s last performance against Israil Madrimov and the lackluster PPV titles, it’s questionable whether Turki will pursue the Canelo-Crawford fight.
Crawford’s Undefeated Record Speaks for Itself
The former four-division world champion Jones Jr. states that because Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) has never been beaten and is coming up in weight, he would have a chance of defeating unified super middleweight champion Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs), depending on their game plans.
Roy says that you can’t dismiss Crawford’s problems due to the difficulties he had in his debut at 154 last month against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov because he was facing a fighter from Uzbekistan with Vasily Lomachenko-like skills.
It looked like Crawford had problems with Madrimov’s power, not just his skills. The power Crawford had at 147 didn’t carry over to 154, and he was forced to use his jab to win the fight.
It was still razor close because Madrimov landed the better shots in every round, but the judges gave it to Crawford because he worked harder in the last four rounds.
“You can’t say no to Crawford until somebody beat him. As long as he’s putting weight on, nobody is going to beat him,” said Roy Jones Jr. to the Fighthype YouTube channel when asked if Terence Crawford can beat Canelo Alvarez at 168.
Somebody could likely beat Crawford if he were only willing to fight other guys at 154, 160, or 168. If you put Crawford in with David Benavidez, David Morrell, or Christian Mbilli, one or more fighters might beat him, giving Canelo a reason to “say no” to Crawford.
Obviously, Crawford isn’t unbeatable, but we can say he’s cautious and unwilling to test himself anymore. He’s just going to wait and see if Canelo gives him the fight, which is seen as a strategic move on Crawford’s part.
“If they strip him down to 147 or 140, they might have a chance because that takes more from you then going up in weight,” said Jones about Craword. “As long as he goes up, the skies the limit for Bud. Canelo is a tough cookie to crack, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying he’s going to beat Canelo, but Canelo is going to have to beat him.”
Crawford might still be able to beat everyone at 147 and 140 if he turned to those weight classes, given how weak the level of opposition is. But since he’s money-focused, he won’t try his luck.
“He ain’t got to beat Canelo. Canelo has got to beat him,” said Jones with his cryptic remark/
It’s unclear what Jones Jr. means by saying that Canelo has to beat Crawford and not the other way around. It almost sounds like some double-speak code language to say that he feels Crawford would have the upperhand, which makes no sense unless you ignore his weight, last performance, and his advanced age.
“I wasn’t surprised at all because Madrimov is one of these guys that had an exceptional amateur background. These fighters from Uzbekistan are some of the best fighters in the world title,” said Jones Jr. when asked if he was surprised at how many problems Crawford had against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on August 3rd.
Madrimov’s success against Crawford had nothing to do with his background but was more just based on power, size, youth, and a willingness to throw right hands. He could have been from America, and he would have had the same success against Crawford.
“Them and Kazakhstan have probably won more medals in the Olympics than the Russians, Americans, and Cubans lately because their technique is so sound,” said Jones Jr. “So when you see a guy coming from that block of the world, you got to know these guys are no joke.”
There are some great fighters from Eastern Europe but Madrimov didn’t fight a great fight, and definitely didn’t look anything like Lomachenko against Crawford. Madrimov was landing because Crawford was trying to walk him down, and he took advantage of his aggressiveness to nail him with right hands.
If Madrimov had fought harder in rounds 10 through 12, he’d have won, but it looked like he lost his nerve when Crawford went on the attack. If he had fought like ‘Little GGG,’ Crawford would have been in trouble down the stretch.
“This guy [Madrimov] was 10-0 at the time, and look at how much trouble he gave Bud. You have to remember these are the Lomachenko-type guys now. It’s not normal,” said Jones Jr.
“Who says he doesn’t have a shot? Why doesn’t he have a shot?” said Jones about Crawford having a shoot at beating Canelo. “Depending on how Canelo fights him will determine the outcome of the fight.”
Crawford would have a shot against Canelo if he had followed Mayweather’s blueprint by jabbing, moving, coming in low, and clinching wherever he got close. This would be very boring for fans who prefer to see action and entertainment, but people who like to see pure boxing would be pleased to see Crawford fuse Floyd’s blueprint.
“What’s going to define the fight is what approach Canelo takes because if he takes the wrong approach, he’s going to lose,” said Jones Jr. “If he takes the right approach, he’s almost guaranteed to win, but if he take the wrong approach, he’s guaranteed to lose.”
Jones really isn’t saying anything here. He’s sitting on the fence without telling the fans what he really thinks, but with the way he’s pumping up Crawford, it appears he thinks he’ll be victorious against Canelo.
“So, for me, it’s not who is the better fighter. It’s who takes the right approach to the fight. Canelo is the bigger guy. If he talked the right approach, he should win the fight. If he talked the wrong approach, he’s definitely going to lose the fight,” said Jones Jr.
