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Keith Thurman says he can get Terence Crawford to 154 pounds

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Image: Keith Thurman Says He Can “Entice” Terence Crawford Back to 154 — If He Beats Sebastian Fundora for the WBC Title

Keith “One Time” Thurman says he believes he can “talk” Terence Crawford back to 154 pounds and fight him for the “green” WBC junior middleweight title by defeating champion Sebastian Fundora.

At first glance, it sounds like a crazy fantasy that Thurman cooked up in his head, thinking he would beat Fundora from “The Towering Inferno” and then take on Crawford and make billions of dollars.

Fundor factor

Thurman (31-1, 23 KO) and Fundora (23-1-1, 15 KO) are scheduled to be postponed to January 24, 2026 or January 31, 2026. Their fight was supposed to take place on October 25, 2025, but Fundora suffered a hand injury and the fight had to be postponed to next year.

“Thurman vs. Crawford, I still think he wants to go back down. I still think it’s something for us,” Keith Thurman said in an interview with Brian Custer podcast about his belief that Terence Crawford will want to return to 154 to face him

Crawford’s silence speaks volumes

What made Thurman think Crawford wanted to go down to 154 pounds? He didn’t say a word about going back to 154 pounds. Since defeating Canelo Alvarez on September 13, he has only said that a 160-pound fight might interest him.

It is believed that he will stay at 168 pounds and wait for Canelo to ask for a rematch as that is his best option for a payday. Crawford would have no desire to fight 37-year-old “One Time” Thurman at 154 for a payday that would likely be tiny compared to the $50 million he just received for fighting Canelo.

Turki’s role in fantasy

Turki Alalshikh would have to be interested in paying for the fight between Crawford and Thurman. I don’t know why he would do that when many younger boxing fans have never seen Thurman fight. They don’t know who he is, except for his appearance: a balding man who appears to be in his forties.

“Man, we should get this thing going. Step in with ‘One Time,’ baby,” Thurman said in his desperate hope that Bud Crawford would want to fight him. “I think I might be able to lure Bud in a bit.”

Bigger game for Bud in 168

There are a lot of things that would have to fall into place for Thurman to have a massive payday fight with Crawford. Here are the things that would need to happen:

  1. Thurman defeats Fundora convincingly
  2. Crawford returns to 154
  3. Turki Alalshikh appreciates this meeting
  4. Bud had to want this fight
  5. Commercial attractiveness

“I don’t know what’s tempting him right now, but I feel like maybe, just maybe, the green belt could entice him just a little bit,” Thurman said of the possibility that Terence might be interested in fighting him if he wins the WBC junior middleweight belt from Sebastian Fundora.

It’s doubtful whether Crawford will see any value in a shot at the WBC 154-pound title if Thurman gets his hands on it by defeating Fundora. Terence, a native of Omaha, Nebraska, has already said that once he leaves the unit, he will never come back.

A return to 154 pounds would be a step back for Crawford. He would face a lot of pressure to fight Jaron “Boots” Ennis as well, and it would be a brutal fight for him at 38 years ancient.

Olly Campbell’s verdict: Keep dreaming, Keith

Bud Crawford is focused on collecting divisional world titles to cement his legacy so he can prove he is seen as one of the four on boxing’s Mount Rushmore. That’s where he’s hung up and that’s why he probably wouldn’t be interested in returning to 154 pounds.

If Thurman wants to fight superstar Crawford, he would have to move up to 168 or 160 pounds. Wherever he is or wherever he’s going, Thurman must be heading in that direction. He cannot assume that he is on an equal footing with Crawford in terms of status and negotiations. This isn’t 2016.

Last update: 21/10/2025

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Boxing

Tyson Fury doubts whether the judges will give him victory over Oleksandr Usyk

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Image: Usyk's Coach Disputes Referee's Standing Eight Count for Fury

“I won the third fight,” Fury told Gareth A. Davies. “But the thing is, I know if he gets up at the end of the fight, I’m not going to make a decision. For me, it’s like, I might as well give him the fight before we even start boxing. Give him a W and I’ll give him an L.”

Usyk defeated Fury twice in 2024 in hard-fought championship fights that decided the undisputed heavyweight title. The Ukrainian’s victories transformed the division and left Fury trying to rebuild momentum in the final stage of his career.

When the discussion turned to the scoring of these fights, Fury made it clear that he still viewed the outcome differently from the official verdicts.

“And like I said, I thought I won that fight,” Fury said. “But you know what he did? That’s someone else’s opinion again.”

Fury’s comments suggest that from his perspective the debate surrounding these fights remains unresolved. Instead of treating the defeats as decisive setbacks, the former champion still doubts whether a third meeting would have produced a different outcome on the scorecards.

This lingering doubt keeps the trilogy discussion alive even as the heavyweight landscape moves forward with other matchups. Fury has talked about returning to winning form and then fighting main fights again, but his comments show that the controversy surrounding Usyk’s decision has not abated.

For Fury, the conclusion remains the same: if he doesn’t stop Usyk, he doubts the judges would award him the victory.

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The 0-40 with 36 KO heavyweight division returns under a up-to-date name, now 0-43

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Boxing record graphic for Alexis Rafael Castillo Sanchez, also known as Alexis de la Cruz Shephard, showing a 0-43 record

World Boxing News first reported on Dominican fighter Alexis Rafael Castillo Sanchez after he set one of the most remarkable records in current boxing by losing his first 40 professional fights, 36 of them by knockout.

At that point, it seemed like the story was over. Castillo Sanchez’s career appeared to be over in 2018 after a long string of losses that spanned over a decade in the sport.

However, official fight records show that the boxer later returned to the ring under a completely different name in his 40s.

Since then, Castillo Sanchez has competed as Alexis de la Cruz Shephard, adding three more attacks to improve a record that was 0-40 when the case was first reviewed by WBN.

All three bouts ended in consecutive stoppage defeats, bringing the overall score to 0-43, with 39 losses by knockout.

For two of these latter defeats, there are no confirmed match stoppage details in the official records, meaning the exact moment or method of the knockout was never formally documented.

Name change

The change makes the situation even more unusual.

The boxer, previously known as Alexis Rafael Castillo Sanchez, has appeared on recent fight lists as Alexis de la Cruz Shephard, which is a significant change from the name under which he was recorded earlier in his career.

World Boxing News determined the career continued after reviewing opponents’ recent records, where matching biographical details ultimately revealed the same fighter was competing again years after the original report.

Latest fights

The three additional fights occurred between 2022 and 2024, during which time Shephard was competing between the ages of 45 and 47, according to records.

In April 2022, Shephard lost by TKO to Dario Duran Gonzalez in Moncion. Four months later, he returned to Monte Plata, where he suffered another defeat in the second round against Emille Gonzalez Lopez.

His last appearance was on December 18, 2024 in Santo Domingo, where Shephard was stopped in the opening round by Omar Alexander Rivera Cerda after suffering a shoulder injury.

Each fight followed a familiar pattern from the earlier part of his career, which had already seen dozens of early finals.

An extraordinary record

When WBN first considered the case, Castillo Sanchez’s record was already distinguished by the huge number of losses due to stoppages and the length of the series.

The fighter started his career in 2007 and competed in many weight classes before finally moving up to heavyweight.

During this period, he faced a wide range of opponents, from first-time prospects to seasoned professionals, rarely lasting beyond the early rounds.

Additional fights recorded under the pseudonym Alexis de la Cruz Shephard extended this streak even further, creating one of current boxing’s strangest records.

Time will tell if his career will last beyond 0-43.


About the author

Phil Jay is the editor-in-chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a boxing veteran with over 15 years of experience. Read the full biography.

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Rolly Romero only sees one winner in Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao 2

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Rolly Romero sees only one winner in Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao 2

WBA welterweight world champion Rolando Romero presented his prediction for Floyd Mayweather’s rematch with Manny Pacquiao.

Two pound-for-pound legends will face off at the Sphere in Las Vegason September 19, and their second meeting was the highlight of a live event on Netflix.

Their first meeting, which ended with Mayweather winning by unanimous decision, took place in 2015 and became the most lucrative boxing gala of all time.

By then, former multi-division world champions were already considered to be past their prime, and Pacquiao in particular no longer had the speed and ferocity for which he had always been known.

It must be admitted, however, that the Filipino has played eight professional matches since their first meeting, and his last assignment was in July against Mario Barrios.

And despite a nearly four-year layoff following his loss to Yordenis Ugas, Pacquiao was able to hold a controversial draw against the then-WBC welterweight champion.

Meanwhile, Mayweather hasn’t fought professionally since a 10th-round victory over Conor McGregor in 2017, but his dominant victory over “Pac Man” more than two years earlier led many to predict a similar result in the rematch.

One of them is Romero, who told “The Last Stand” podcast. that he cannot see Pacquiao, at the age of 47, making any drastic changes to his original performance.

“Floyd wins. And whatever happens, happens. It was meant to be. Whoever God wants to win, will win.”

“But what would be the difference [to] first fight? Was there really anything else Pacquiao could have had? [done]?”

Mayweather, now 49, has competed in a series of exhibition matches since his victory over McGregor, but now he is preparing to put his 50-0 record on the line.

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