The world champion of two weight classes wants to advance and face Terence Crawford after the next fight

Published

11 months ago

December 10, 2025

Two-weight world champion wants to move up and face Terence Crawford after his next fight

Terence Crawford was drafted by a fighter who, just like in the fight with Canelo Alvarez, is determined to move up in several weight classes and face him.

Having already cemented his legacy, the 38-year-old has clearly reached a point in his career where the most lucrative opportunities are few and far between.

Of course, he secured a monster payday against Canelo in September, while becoming the undisputed three-division champion after a unanimous decision victory over the Mexican super middleweight.

Now, however, it appears that Crawford may struggle to make even a comparable amount of money, especially given the lack of notable names in and around his unit.

There appears to be a potential clash with unified middleweight king Janibek Alimkhanuly that could happen next year, giving “Bud” a chance to become a six-time middleweight world champion.

However, the money on offer is unlikely to give Crawford a reason to get out of bed unless he is truly willing to continue to improve his size.

When it comes to a purely money-based decision, he may be tempted by Teofimo Lopez, who has expressed interest in a possible fight with “Bud” after his next appearance.

The WBO super lightweight champion will first have to defend his title on January 31 against Shakur Stevenson, holder of the WBC 135-pound belt.

If he can complete his complex assignment in Recent York, Lopez could be considered one of the best fighters in the sport.

At this point, Crawford, who is a close friend of Stevenson, may actually start to rejoice at the 28-year-old’s call during Inside the ring show.

“Crawford sent one of his boys [Stevenson] come and finish the job, but I don’t think it will work.

“I’ll still be here, and if he’s still boxing, I’d love to fight him right after [the Stevenson fight].

“He’s a guy; he’s a boxing man. If he can move up three weight classes to fight Canelo Alvarez, why can’t Teofimo move up two or three weight classes to fight Terence Crawford?”

Robert Garcia Analyzes Tim Tszyus Odds Against Erislandy Lara | Boxing News

Published

2 hours ago

November 7, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

"Robert Garcia Analyzes Tim Tszyu's Odds Against Erislandy Lara | Boxing News"

Tim Tszyu seeks to become Australia’s third multi-divisional boxing world champion when he competes for Erislandy Lara’s WBA middleweight title next month, and ahead of the action, trainer Robert Garcia has offered his thoughts on the fight.

Tszyu lost his WBO super-welterweight title in a defeat to Sebastian Fundora back in 2024 and twice failed to reclaim 154lb honours, both against Bakhram Murtazaliev and in a rematch with Fundora.

Since then, the Aussie has stepped up to middleweight and scored a career-best win over Errol Spence Jr earlier this yearand now, the 32-year-old could join lead trainer Jeff Fenech and Liam Paro as his nation’s third two-weight world champion, if he can trump 43-year-old.

Speaking with ProBox TVRobert Garcia, who trains a potential future Tszyu opponent in Vergil Ortiz, admitted that he is leaning towards the home fighter, but noted that Lara will not be phased by competing in the challenger’s backyard.

“We can probably lean towards Tim Tsyzu because he is fighting at home, in front of his hometown, but Lara is not the fighter that brings in a lot of fans following him.

“He doesn’t have a following, he is not one that is going to sell out arenas, so even if it is in the United States, it is likely that most of the people are going to be [there] for Tim Tszyu because Australians do travel and Tim Tszyu has a lot of fans.

“For Lara, going to Australia is like going to Las Vegas or going to New York because he never has that following anyways. Anywhere he goes, he is going to be against the crowd. So, I think for him it is going to be one of those performances where it doesn’t make a difference if he is going to Tim Tsyzu’s hometown.”

Tszyu-Lara takes place at the Cbus Super Stadium in Queensland, Australia on Sunday 13 December.

Boxing

Malik Scott Predicts Knockout Victory for Jai Opetaia in Upcoming Fight

Published

2 hours ago

November 7, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

"Malik Scott Predicts Knockout Victory for Jai Opetaia in Upcoming Fight"

Deontay Wilder’s former head coach Malik Scott has delivered a knockout prediction for the American’s upcoming showdown with Jai Opetaia.

The pair will square off at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on December 11, with Opetaia making his heavyweight debut on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua.

Despite him being the naturally smaller man, many are favouring the Australian – a former two-time world cruiserweight champion – to defeat his 10-years-older opponent.

It is, after all, generally accepted that Wilder has declined significantly since his trilogy bout with Furywho survived two knockdowns and scored an 11th-round knockout in their 2021 encounter.

Back then, Wilder had just joined forces with Scott, his former opponent, and the pair maintained their fighter-trainer relationship through subsequent defeats against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang.

With Wilder now operating under different coaches, though, Scott has shared a balanced view of the Opetaia fight with Seconds Out.

“The fight’s got dynamite written all over it. Jai Opetaia is very dangerous, but he’s a smaller man that’s been hurt by smaller men than Deontay, slower men than Deontay.

“I’ve never seen Opetaia get hit by nobody like Deontay; I’ve seen Deontay get hit by bigger punchers than Opetaia. [But] one thing we can expect in this fight is a knockout.

“The name of the fight is ‘bad intentions’ – at least that’s what I’m calling it, because that’s what they share in common. What they share in common is mentality – they both are trying to hurt you.”

While he stopped short of predicting a winner, it is perhaps telling that Scott, despite his relationship with Wilder, has not explicitly favoured him to win by knockout.