Author: Sean Crose

It’s understandable why some, if not most, fight fans would consider Canelo Alvarez at super middleweight/delicate heavyweight to be a bridge too far for Terence Crawford at junior middleweight. One hundred and sixty-eight pounds is quite a weight advantage to support a fighter over one hundred and fifty-four pounds. Even at the catchweight division, it’s clear that Canelo’s size could be a major problem for former junior welterweight Crawford. Still, there are those who know the rules of the fight inside out and believe that Crawford has a good chance against Canelo if the two men meet in the near future.

If famed trainer Teddy Atlas has something to say about it (and Atlas always has a lot to say), Crawford shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand. Although the fighter known as “Bud” failed to stop Israil Madrimov in his junior middleweight debut, he still won the fight. Moreover, Atlas believes it was a learning experience for the multi-division champion.

“Don’t think it’s going to be the same Crawford,” Atlas said, “when he jumps to sixty-eight, if that happens. This will be a better armed Crawford, even better than ever. It will be Crawford who is now armed with this information, now armed with more confidence, now armed with the things he needs to add another skin to his collection, add another belt, another title, add to his already great collection the collection he has.”

Does this mean Atlas thinks Crawford will beat Canelo? Of course not. Earlier in the interview, Atlas spoke enthusiastically about Canelo and pointed out that it is foolish to think that the man is finished at this point in his long career. Indeed, Atlas said he thought Canelo made some positive changes himself when he defeated Edgar Berlanga a few weeks ago.

The truth is that the Canelo-Crawford fight should be an outrageous proposition. After all, Canelo is now fighting two, sometimes three, divisions higher than the one Crawford currently fights in. However, what makes this possible shot intriguing is Crawford, a disciplined, skillful and lively fighter who may be the best fighter in the world, pound for pound. The sight of a great fighter like Crawford fighting a living legend like Canelo is both terrifying and tempting – terrifying because of the difference in the fighter’s natural size, tempting because it really makes you wonder if Crawford could pull it off.

Promoter Oscar De La Hoya doubts whether the rematch between Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney will take place in 2025. Oscar thinks Haney is tired after his loss to Ryan last April. Haney was beaten in this fight and it is doubtful whether he will be able to recover from the defeat. De La Hoya doesn’t think so.

If Haney is cleared, it remains to be seen when, or even if, he will return to the ring to fight someone. Ideally, he would need to undergo an attunement to ensure his abilities are still intact. It would be a mistake for Haney to fight one of the top welterweights coming off a loss to Ryan.

Interestingly, Haney doesn’t know what division he plans to fight in next, but given his enormous size, he should consider competing at welterweight. The problems he had with Ryan’s power shots last April may have had something to do with the enormous amount of water he had to lose to reach the 140-pound limit.

Haney’s life might have been easier had he competed at 147 pounds because he wouldn’t have had to cut so much weight. He would still have to lose a ton of water from the 160s, but it wouldn’t be as huge an ordeal. For athletes competing in divisions much smaller than their natural size, eventually their body can no longer handle the enormous change in weight.

Of course, Haney’s decision to sue Ryan has a lot to do with De La Hoya’s doubts about a second fight. Moreover, Haney (31-0, 15 KO) has shown little interest in returning to the ring to rebuild from a 12-round decision loss to Garcia.

Former two-division world champion Haney recently passed up an opportunity to fight Sandor Martin, which netted him a nice reward in a winning fight. When he decided not to fight Sandor, it was a red flag in the eyes of fans, and the loss to Kingry still haunts him. For a proud player like Haney, who had everything going his way throughout his career, this was mentally hard to deal with.

Ryan recently said he has no interest in fighting Haney again, but he may change his mind in 2025 if he is offered enough money. If this is the highest paying fight for Ryan, he will not miss the opportunity.

The only other fight that would be more profitable would be a rematch with Gervonta Davis, but that’s doubtful. Tank is too busy taking the straightforward option and won’t want to fight Ryan at full strength at 140+ again.

“We have to deal with this frivolous lawsuit they threw at us, but it’s all just noise,” Oscar De La Hoya told reporters media regarding Devin Haney’s decision to sue Ryan Garcia and Golden Boy. “That’s all. How can you sue someone who beat you? It just doesn’t make sense.

“What I would do is throw that guy out, go back in the ring and kick his ass.”

“I don’t think so because I think Devin Haney is a shooting guy,” De La Hoya said when asked if there would be a rematch between Garcia and Haney.

LIAM DAVIES may be chasing a world title shot, but the appeal of one particular massive domestic fight remains unchanged.

The undefeated 28-year-old returns to the ring on November 2 against Shabaz Masoud, four months after the original date, which was postponed due to Davies’ injury.

Davies is currently in the top five of the IBF and WBC rankings, but all four world titles belong to Japanese phenom Naoya Inoue. A fight with Inoue is at the top of Davies’ wish list, but he is well aware that he would start from a weaker position. Closer to home, a major domestic super bantamweight fight against Queensberry stablemate Dennis “The Menace” McCann could take place in 2025.

When asked if he thought he was beyond fighting the European champion, Davies replied: “No, I still think that fight could happen.”

Davies then changed his stance and asked a question. – Will you tune in? The answer was yes.

“That’s what it’s all about,” Davies added. “It’s about people getting interested and tuning in. I see it as a massive, massive fight. I hope this will happen in the long run.

“If they ask me, I will be ready. I never ask who, just when and that’s all I need to know. Dennis is doing his thing and I wish him all the best. I hope we meet someday, but I’m not sure when that will be. If it ever comes down to it, I’ll be ready.”