Terenka Crawford showed his greater figure and movements, which he plans to exploit when he raises two divisions from 154 to 168 to challenge WBA, WBC and WBO Super Middle Wich Champion Canelo Alvarez [or perhaps four] Titles on September 13 in Las Vegas.
Avoidance tactics
Still looking like a younger medium weight, Crawford (41-0, 31 KO) today showed a lot of movement in its tiny training clip. It is believed that it will be larger, stronger and younger Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KO) to stay outside the fire line. Fans of ignorance of Crawford’s career know him mainly from the fight against Errol Spence and they mistakenly believe that he always fought aggressively in this way.
Crawford was not fighting. He was simply aggressive in this one fight, because he faced a sluggish, tired weight, broken up by the car version of Spence, which was an uncomplicated victim. Usually Crawford fights, as he did against Israil Madrimov, boxing, playing chess and making it uninteresting.
Photo A Larger version of Shakur Stevenson With more pop, but the same cautious anti -discount style. This is Crawford. He was never stimulating for watching fans who know their career. That is why his fight with Canelo will probably be very uninteresting for fans who like the action.
Terena will sit for a year, not fighting than to move to 168 to fight one of the best pretenders, such as Olsleys Iglesias, Diego Pacheco or Christian Mbilli. If he did this, he could remain sharply, acclimatize to the Super Middle Wweight Division and show the fans that it is not only about obtaining a retirement withdrawal.
For boxing fans who have their heads on the shoulders, this is the only conclusion that you can draw. Crawford says that he moves to 168 to fight Canelo for heritage, to prove its size, but first does not fight in the division.
Heritage or money?
What’s more, he plans to leave the 168 pounds division after retiring or returning to 154. This makes it seem obvious that it is about money. If Crawford does not do it for money, why will he not take tuning at 168 first?
It would be great for people who order this event at PPV if Crawford came to fight rather than run on the ring, like a 154-pit Jermell Charlo, when he moved at 14 pounds to challenge Canelo’s challenge for belts in 2023. Jermell was like a larger, stronger version of Crawford, but he did not want to not mix it with Alvarez after in combat early. He spent most of the fight in motion, running and the fans were furious.
Crawford showed no power in his move to 154 of August 147 last year against Israil Madrimov, and his face looked badly dressed at the end of the fight. It was almost as bad as Vergil Ortiz Jr’s face when he fought Madrimov last Saturday.
Vergil Jr. He did a better job, defeating Madrimov than Crawford, but he was younger and more willing to get involved. Crawford fought defensively and still had many penalties.
Moses It will hurt suffered a surprising defeat to Filip Hrgovic on Saturday, and the 21-year-old has now revealed who he wants to face upon his return.
Itauma looked to be fulfilling his destiny and dominating his Croatian opponent during the opening rounds at the O2 Arena over the weekend, but his success soon turned to desperation when Hrgovic’s chin held up and his own stamina did not.
An exhausted Itauma eventually collapsed in round nine of the contestwith Hrgovic pulling off a remarkable upset to throw the heavyweight scene a huge curveball, hand Itauma a first career loss and get his hands on the IBF heavyweight world title.
In an interview with talkSPORT Boxingpromoter Frank Warren revealed that Itauma has already asked for a rematch with ‘El Animal’.
“In that last round, he was still firing back. He has got a firing heart, he is a very brave young man, very brave. It’s now about what he does, how he prepares, he is saying to me, ‘can we get the rematch on?’, which is a natural reaction.”
Despite the 21-year-old’s desire to take on Hrgovic for a second time, it seems as though the latter will be made to face Cuba’s Frank Sanchez, who agreed to a step-aside deal to allow Itauma and Hrgovic to fight for the IBF title under the condition that he would face the winner.
Continuing, Warren seemed to confirm that a scrap between Hrgovic and Sanchez will be next, advising Itauma to take some time off before rushing into a second shot at the heavyweight throne.
“I told him, ‘you have got to just switch off from boxing, go and chill out, go and spend some time with your family and then come back, recharge your batteries and then we will get to work again,’
“The landscape is what it is, he is a a part of it, he has shown that he belongs at that level and provided that we learn and he learns some lessons from the fight, I think that he can go on and do some great things.”
In his post-fight interview, newly-crowned IBF champion Hrgovic spoke of his desire for a bout on home soil in Croatia; where he has not fought since 2019.
As a result, Warren may next target Zagreb for a clash between Hrgovic and Sanchez, which should take place within the next six months.
Canelo Alvarez is hoping to regain one of his former super-middleweight titles at the first time of asking when he makes his comeback this October against WBC champion Christian Mbilli. Two-time welterweight ruler Shawn Porter has revealed his prediction for the fight.
Alvarez lost all four of his belts at 168lbs to Terence Crawford last September and has since been sidelined due to an elbow injuryas Crawford’s retirement saw the coronation of four new world champions.
One of those beneficiaries was Mbilli, who had been in possession of the WBC Interim crown when ‘Bud’ decided to hang up the glovesallowing him to be elevated to full champion and then lined up for a showdown with Canelo.
Canelo’s remaining quality at the age of 36 is an ongoing debate amongst fans and analysts, leading many to predict an intriguing and potentially even fight. Yet, speaking on The PorterWay Podcast‘Showtime’ said that Alvarez will look like an ‘A++ fighter’ come fight night.
“Canelo truly does have that fast twitch; he is explosive, but he is explosive with speed and quickness and that fast twitch is going to get Canelo to that mark a little bit quicker.
“Yeah, I think [he can still do it] at 36. If you think about it, even though Canelo is not that ‘A++’ fighter that he used to be, he is still a solid ‘A’ and that solid ‘A’ will beat a solid ‘B’ [in Mbilli].
“That solid ‘B’ will make a solid ‘A’ look like an ‘A++’, so I think that he is going to look ‘A++’.”
Canelo-Mbilli takes place on Saturday, October 31, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The super-middleweight duo will top a ‘Mexico vs. The World’ themed bill, which could feature a bantamweight title unification between WBA champion and pound-for-pound sensation Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez and WBO titleholder Christian Medina.
Canelo Alvarez could be ordered to enter an immediate title defence if he emerges victorious against Christian Mbilli on October 31.
The Mexican has not fought since September 2025, when he was relieved of his undisputed super-middleweight crown after losing a unanimous decision to Terence Crawford.
On that same card, Mbilli retained his WBC ‘interim’ strap following a 10-round draw against Lester Martinezmaintaining his position as one of the top contenders at 168lbs.
The Frenchman was then upgraded to full world champion in December, with Crawford having relinquished his four major titles and announced his retirement as a three-division undisputed king.
Canelo will therefore have the opportunity to reclaim one of his old belts in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with Mbilli making a first defence of his WBC title.
The winner of their showdown may then be ordered to face Martinez, as the unbeaten mandatory challenger comes off two successful defences of his WBC ‘interim’ strap.
Most recently, the 30-year-old scored a 10th-round stoppage of Luka Plantic last weekend, which followed his unanimous decision victory over Immanuwel Aleem in March.
Speaking at the post-fight presser following his win against Plantic, Martinez said through a translator that he expects to eventually face both Canelo and Mbilli.
“No, look, at the end of the day, I’ve said it before: the second fight [with Mbilli] will happen, possibly next year or the year after. But either one of those fights makes sense for us.
“We know the eyes of the world are going to be on [Mbilli-Canelo]and because we’re going to be there, we’re going to take advantage of all of that. But both fights are going to happen.”
Having already created the “blueprint” to defeat Canelo, Crawford trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre said afterwards that he is supremely confident in guiding Martinez to victory against either Alvarez or Mbilli.