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Keyshawn Davis: Crawford Will Knock Out Canelo After Defeating Madrimov

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Image: Danny Jacobs Backs Terence Crawford to Overcome Size Disadvantage Against Canelo Alvarez

Lightweight title contender Keyshawn Davis says Terence Crawford will definitely fight Canelo Alvarez next year if he scores a win over Israil Madrimov on August 3 and knocks out the Mexican fighter.

Davis believes Crawford will beat Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) hands down and then move up two weight classes to beat Canelo at 168 pounds.

Keyshawn shares a trainer with Crawford in Brian “BoMac” McIntyre, so there may be a bit of bias and wishful thinking involved when it comes to what he thinks Terence (40-0, 31 KOs) is capable of doing.

Fans were banking more on the 36-year-old Crawford (61-2-2, 39 KOs) and were willing to move up to 168 pounds to first prove himself against top contender David Benavidez rather than fight just for the money.

This jump makes it look like Crawford is doing it for the money and the fans will be fooled like when Jermell Charlo, a bigger puncher than Crawford, moved up from 154 to 168 and was not Canelo’s opponent last year. It was just a money grab and Jermell hasn’t been seen since.

“I think they’ll fight, especially after Crawford’s good performance against his opponent” [Madrimov] “here,” Keyshawn Davis said Fight Center TVpredicting that Canelo Alvarez will want to fight Terence Crawford next year after he defeated WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madramimov on August 3.

If Crawford does well against a 154-pounder with 11 professional fights under his belt, that doesn’t mean Madrimov deserves to move up to 168, skip the 160-pound division entirely and move to the front of the pack to challenge Canelo for his undisputed super middleweight title.

Crawford proving his worth in a fight with one guy at 154 doesn’t mean he’ll prove his worth in a fight with Canelo at 168. That’s a money grab. Only a simpleton would see that as Crawford proving his worth.

“Then it will be almost mandatory for them” [Canelo & Crawford] “To be in the fight,” Keyshawn said. “Two men have to want to fight each other. It can’t just be one man. After Crawford proves himself [at 154]“Canelo should be ready for that.”

Keyshawn has some crazy stuff going on in his head. Crawford beating Madrimov at 154 doesn’t make him mandatory at 168. He can utilize that title to get a shot at 160, but not at 168. There won’t be a demand for Crawford to step up to the plate at 168 if he beats Madrimov at junior middleweight.

Crawford would still have to prove himself at middleweight and then face either David Benavidez or David Morrell at 168 pounds, which is out of the question because it wouldn’t end well for him.

“It is obvious that he [Canelo] has a size advantage, but size isn’t everything in a fight,” Keyshawn said, stating the obvious. “You have to bring more than just size, power and speed. You have to bring a lot of things to the table when it comes to fighting.”

If Keyshawn thought size didn’t matter, why didn’t he move up from 135 to 147 to face IBF welterweight champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis for the title? He wasted his time trying to challenge Frank Martin and Teofimo Lopez, but why didn’t he take his word for it and show the boxing world that size doesn’t matter by taking the fight with Boots?

Unfortunately for Keyshawn, size matters in boxing, which is why we don’t see many fighters jumping up a few weight classes to take risky fights. The only time we see fighters doing that is when they see a vulnerable fighter they are confident they can beat.

“I think he [Crawford] can knock Canelo out for sure, and if he does, it’s going to be crazy,” Keyshawn said of his gym buddy Terence. “If he knocks that guy out [Madrimov] is coming, it’s gonna be crazy. This guy is a youthful, hungry lion. This guy is not coming to lay down.”

If Gennady Golovkin couldn’t knock Canelo out, then Crawford won’t, especially if he fights defensively, moves, lands punches, clinches and fights all night long like we’ve seen in the past.

Crawford is simply moving up in weight to fight Canelof or get a payday he doesn’t deserve, and it would be completely unfair to the contenders lining up at 168 pounds if he had any hope of winning.

“This guy comes in and he’s got a real IQ. This guy can really fight. So Terence is going to box him, which he’s going to do. Terence is going to knock him out, which he’s going to do; it’s going to be crazy. This fight is crazy even for him,” Keyshawn said.

We don’t know what Crawford will do in the Madrimov fight, as he’s fighting at a modern weight class of 154, has been out of action for 13 months and turns 37 in September. All we know is that Crawford has defeated a faded Errol Spence and a few other welterweights who were either on the way out or average. He wants to set himself up for a payday with a fight with Canelo before he retires.

“Terence is going to be the smaller guy in this fight. So he’s probably not going to be as aggressive. He’s probably going to catch this guy when he comes. This guy has an Eastern European style. Terence’s seen that before. With a bigger guy like that, who’s a puncher, he’s going to be more defensive,” Keyshawn said.

Crawford will land punches on Madrimov as he comes in, but whether he can avoid getting pinned is another matter. Even in the fights where Crawford dominated, he got hit a lot, and he wasn’t a guy with Madrimov’s size and strength, who at his age had been out for 13 months.

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Boxing

Tyson’s conqueror, Danny Williams, was “never considered” for Morrison

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Kenzie Morrison Danny Williams

World Boxing News has learned that Danny Williams was never considered for a fight against Tommy Morrison’s son Kenzie on November 9.

WBN has learned from a source that Williams was scheduled to face Morrison next month when he returns to action at Firelake Arena in Shawnee. However, promoter Tony Holden confirmed what WBN initially reported, namely that Williams had been offered for the fight.

BoxRec also briefly placed Williams within Morrison’s record on November 9, before removing the former British champion. Williams famously knocked out Mike Tyson in 2004, but has since lived off his victory despite losing his British license more than a decade ago.

Holden, who represents Morrison and is looking for an opponent for the competition in three weeks, explained the situation exclusively to WBN.

“I never confirmed William’s story and I never considered him,” Holden said. “I said no when a local promoter suggested it.”

Williams, 51, last fought in August 202, losing for the 33rd time in his career. With 88 professional fights under his belt, Williams seems unable to turn down a payday despite his advanced age.

Morrison, a power puncher who has stopped 19 of his 21 wins, will look for his next conquest elsewhere. The fight with Mike Balogun remains on the table for 2025 after it was postponed from its original October date.

Balogun, who knocked out Kenzi’s brother Trey in the first round, claimed Morrison was pulled from the fight to spare him the loss.

Holden denies this view.

“Even though this post isn’t up to my standards, I’m going to write it anyway. Mike Balogun falsely claimed that I pulled Kenzie Morrison out of the fight because I was afraid he would lose. Please allow me to correct you, Mr. Balogun,” he stated.

“The decision was not made by Kenzie. Let’s raise the stakes and make it fascinating. If you emerge victorious this month, Kenzie will fight in November.

“We may decide this early next year. If your confidence remains unshaken, we can place a significant bet. Watch Kenzie take revenge on her brother and end your career.

Balogun, a former San Francisco 49ers linebacker, responded to Holden by increasing his salary for a potential collision next year.

“No matter how fair and honorable your decision was, just remember that ‘yesterday’s price is not today’s price,’” said the 2010 undrafted pick.

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Andrew Moloney is confident that if given the chance, he would have beaten Phumelele Cafu and Kosei Tanaka

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Andrew Moloney (left) attacks Pedro Guevara – photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

Few people were more disappointed than Andrew Moloney when Kosei Tanaka lost his WBO super flyweight belt to Phumelele Cafu at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan on Monday night.

The 33-year-old Australian veteran was hoping to get a shot at beating Tanaka in the lucrative Japanese market.

Those dreams were dashed when South Africa’s Cafu delivered the performance of his life, knocking out Tanaka in the fifth round and finishing the fight strongly, beating the four-weight world champion by split decision.

“The plan was to target the WBO and really chase the Tanaka fight, but it all fell apart on Monday night,” Moloney (26-4-1NC, 16 KO) told The Ring. “I think the WBO is probably still the direction we go, but I’m not sure if they have a rematch clause or if Tanaka will take it. But after watching the fight yesterday, I would be really confident that I could fight one of these guys and win. We would like to follow this path.

“I would love to fight Tanaka in Japan as a four-division world champion. He’s definitely someone I’ve looked up to and wanted to fight for a long time.

“Last night was a little hard to watch. The way he performed, I’m more confident than ever that I have what it takes to beat Tanaka.

I assume there will be a rematch and I hope that Tanaka will regain the belt and I will be able to return to the ring and climb the rankings, and maybe this fight will still happen.

Tanaka entered Moloney’s orbit four years ago when he debuted at 115 pounds. Earlier this year, it looked like they were also on a collision course, with Moloney being number one in the WBO rankings. However, when an offer was made for the vacant IBF lightweight title fight between Vasily Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr. in May in Perth, Western Australia, Moloney felt he couldn’t turn her down.

This decision ended in disaster. Moloney faced Carlos Cuadras, who withdrew from the fight with a ruptured Achilles tendon and was replaced by Pedro Guevara. Moloney entered the fight with a torn bicep and was largely reduced to boxing with one hand, which circumscribed his punching power.

Still, Moloney felt he did more than enough to win, and was shocked when Guevara was declared the winner by split decision. He was so disappointed that he announced immediately after the fight that he was leaving the ring, but a few days later he withdrew these comments.

It was a breakthrough moment in his career.

“Looking back, it’s a wonderful thing, but watching the Tanaka-Cafu fight made me think that maybe I would do a lot of things if I could turn back time a little bit,” Moloney explained.

“Before my last fight, I was number one in the WBO rankings and I rejected the option of waiting to fight Tanaka. But the opportunity arose to fight Guevara in Australia for the interim WBC title on a major card, and to be candid, I kind of regretted that the Tanaka fight was hanging in the balance, but ultimately we decided to stay busy and take the opportunity to fight in Australia.

“Also, the injury before the fight was another thing I thought about: will I undergo surgery, keep the top spot and wait for Tanaka, but I made the decision to go ahead with the fight with Guevara. Looking back now, maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to do. And looking at the way Tanaka fought last night, I thought maybe I should have waited. I’m sure I could beat Tanaka and take the belt away from him.

“So I take some consolation, but unfortunately you can’t turn back time.”

It’s been a frustrating year for Moloney, but he’s still hitting the gym and his team is working to get him another fight. The window of opportunity to box again this year is closing quickly, but he still hopes to return to the ring in December, most likely in his native Australia.

“I really hope so,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been working on. I have been training strenuous at the gym for some time, quite a few months. I hope to return before the end of the year.

“At this stage it will probably be December. I’m trying to block something, but so far no luck. I’m still training away as if the fight was to take place in December, the team is currently working on it and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll be able to finish it.

“I just hope we can get out before the end of the year, get back into the winner’s circle and start climbing the rankings again.”

Moloney, who fought at bantamweight for the first three years of his professional career before dropping down to super flyweight, surprisingly, said he would even consider moving up to another weight class given the right opportunity.

“It’s a tough time in the super flyweight division,” said Moloney, the eighth challenger to The Ring’s 115-pound title. “There’s a lot going on and it’s always strenuous to plan which route to take because everything changes so quickly. I’d pick Bam Rodriguez to beat Guevara, then there’s talk of a rematch between Kazuto Ioka and Fernando Martinez on Up-to-date Year’s Eve. And then there’s talk of Bama, if they win, fighting the winner of that game in unification. The WBO seems to me the fastest way to win the title, so that’s the path we will follow.

“We have also rejected for some time the idea of ​​moving up to flyweight and getting crack there. There’s also some engaging scene going on there right now, but it’s still uncertain. I’d probably feel a little better at super flyweight, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens with Cafu and Tanaka, but like I said, I’d feel comfortable and confident against either of them, so hopefully he can make it it will happen sooner rather than later.”

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Doubts that fuel 19-year-old Benjamin Johnson

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Despite an impressive amateur resume, welterweight Benjamin Johnson of Springdale, Maryland, enters the professional ring with a shoulder injury.

Johnson will face Kevin Pantoja in a four-round fight at Rosecroft Raceway in Fort Washington, Maryland, promoted by his trainer Lamont Roach Snr’s NoXcuses Promotions. The fight will be broadcast on Saturday on ProBox TV.

Johnson, 1-0 (1 KO), spent just 2:23 in the ring in his professional debut, displaying the quick, aggressive hands that won him multiple national titles. However, 19-year-old Johnson feels an advantage, believing he is being overlooked by his NoXcuses Boxing Gym teammates.

Pantoja, 1-1, 27, has never stopped being a professional – Johnson aims to change that.

“People underestimate me,” Johnson said. “It’s been like that since I was an amateur.”

He added that this underestimation increases his motivation in the gym. Johnson is determined to prove his worth not only to himself, but also to those who doubt him or, worse, don’t recognize him. “I never felt like I was recognized as that guy, so I feel like I’m underappreciated,” Johnson said of his amateur and now professional career.

Johnson sees the fight as a key step in his career, compared to feared forward David Benavidez by some teammates and touted by others as one of the most ready-to-fight prospects in the country.

“I train as much as I can,” Johnson said. “It’s about making a statement. The way you win shows people what you’re capable of, and I’m ready to show my best.

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