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.

On paper, Janibek Alimkhanuly should be considered the best middleweight in the world.

I emphasize “on paper” because it’s been a while since he made a statement that would give a fighter that kind of title – which is partly because it’s been a year since his last fight, as he failed to make weight earlier in 2024.

It was in July that he was pulled from a fight scheduled against Andrei Mikhailovich for the IBF and WBO 160-pound titles in Las Vegas because, according to his manager Egis Klimas: “Although tests showed no kidney damage, he was severely dehydrated and is not in able to fight.”

Instead, Alimkhanuly-Mikhailovich will take place on Friday and in Sydney, Australia. There was a time when Alimkhanuly looked great, but the struggle to gain weight has to be a concern and makes me wonder if there’s a time coming when we’ll see him fighting at 168 pounds instead – especially since he’s from Kazakhstan and fighters from Eastern Europe are usually among the most disciplined of all.

I commented on many of his early fights on Top Rank promotion cards. He methodically dismantled opponents – even good journeymen, at such an early stage. He was selected opponents to test him, and he tactfully disarmed, dismantled and broke them. He also had a few good knockouts, but what was most impressive was the way he blasted his opponents to pieces with his high boxing IQ.

He is also a southpaw, with a long reach of 71.5 inches, and he is clumsy. He looked great.

Even today, I would make him the favorite against any other vigorous middleweight. But not the way I used to do it. And if the time comes when we see him at 168 pounds, I’m also not convinced he has the right staff to be successful there.

Where he was once on track to become the top middleweight in the world, he would be below elite at super middleweight. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez remains number one; there are also blue-collar fighters like Jaime Munguia, Christian Mbilli and Edgar Berlanga. If they didn’t want to take part in a boxing match with Alimkhanuly, they could impose their size on him and he didn’t have enough power to stop them.

The Australian market seems to me to be increasingly vital to some of the top promoters in the world given the way they appear to be trying to get a fight there or sign a top Australian fighter – which will be partly due to the existing untapped fan base there. Mikhailovich may be from nearby Novel Zealand, but Friday’s fight, announced relatively delayed in advance, doesn’t seem likely to make Alimkhanuly a crossover star, so it’s challenging to say what it will do for him from a business standpoint.

In the year 2024, the middleweight division, which has been one of the most eminent for so long, is extremely faint, which means that Alimkhanuly is still considered number one. A unification fight is complex to arrange when there is more than one superstar in a weight class; in 2024, there are none at all – Hamzah Sheeraz seems most likely to change that – which should make it easier for all interested parties to organize the most attractive fights.

Also at 160 pounds, I respect Carlos Adames and his physicality, but it was Sheeraz who caught my attention the most. Sheeraz doesn’t just have physical assets like frame, length, strength and power – as he showed by stopping Tyler Denny in two rounds on the Daniel Dubois-Anthony Joshua undercard, he continues to improve. He looked great in June when he defeated Austin “Ammo” Williams – and Williams is another fighter whose look I liked.

I’d be interested in fighting Sheeraz in a fight against any of his division rivals, and given his talent, the only reason he might lose at this stage is his lack of top-level experience – and even that might not be enough to stop him . If he proves he has the drive to complement his technique and athleticism, there will come a time when he will beat them all.

Sheeraz’s fellow Brit, Chris Eubank Jnr, is popular in the UK but has little popularity in the US. It’s also challenging to truly consider him a top middleweight because even if that’s his natural weight class, he seems most interested in fighting Conor Benn at sub-160 pounds or Canelo at 168 pounds for the biggest payday he can earn .

He sells the fight very well, and he has talent for it. On October 12, he fights Kamil Szeremeta – whom I saw live against Gennady Golovkin – and I expect him to win convincingly because he is far too animated, skilled and robust for such a one-dimensional opponent who is so uncomplicated to hit.

It worries me that Alimkhanuly is fighting in Australia because of his previous efforts to gain 160 pounds – there are many other factors involved in traveling that far. We have also seen strange things during fights in Australia before – including relatively recently, Manny Pacquiao, one of the greatest figures in the history of the sport, undeservedly losing a decision to Jeff Horn.

However, if Alimkhanuly manages to gain weight safely, he will retain the potential to remind everyone why he was so highly regarded not too long ago. If he fights to the best of his ability, he can dominate the undefeated Mikhailovich. Friday’s fight will show us which weight class he belongs in – but it’s the middleweight division he should ideally be in and that also needs him.

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.