By Chris Williams: Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford is already looking past his opponent for this Saturday night in Shawn Porter by saying he wants superstar Canelo Alvarez.
Like a glutton, Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) isn’t satisfied with the filet mignon that’s on his plate this Saturday; he wants some tasty ribeye steak in targeting Canelo for that lottery money.
Crawford aiming for the Canelo money
Chris Williams can’t say he blames WBO welterweight champion Crawford for wanting the green that he can get fighting Canelo.
We’ve seen Alvarez transform average fighters Caleb Plant, Avni Yildirim, Billy Joe Saunders, Rocky Fielding, and Callum Smith into instant millionaires recently with his golden Midas-like touch. If those ordinary fighters can get the Canelo millions, why not Crawford?
Crawford, 34, needs to keep his eyes on what’s on his dinner plate for this Saturday night because the 33-year-old former IBF/WBC welterweight champion Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs) could give him a bad case of indigestion if he’s not careful.
Crawford is overdue for a $10 million+ payday that he would get by fighting Canelo, and it would be a massive shot in the arm for the Omaha, Nebraska native as he head into the twilight of his long career.
Getting a big payday against Canelo would be a perfect golden parachute for Crawford to feather his nest, giving him a soft landing into his retirement years.
Canelo is far better off fighting Crawford than the unknown WBC cruiserweight champion Ilunga Makabu. What is Canelo thinking for him to pick that guy?
Did Canelo come up with that idea or his trainer Eddy Reynoso? If that were Reynoso’s brainchild, I’d dump him right on the spot. There are no words to describe how stupid that idea is.
Porter already said this is his “Super Bowl,” and he’s not going to blow it by fighting the wrong fight and blowing his chances of upsetting the unbeaten glutton Crawford.
“Look at Floyd Mayweather; nobody gave Floyd any credit,” said Crawford to ESPN. “They wanted Floyd to fight GGG at 160 [pounds]. I got to fight Canelo next.”
If Crawford wants the Canelo fight, he’s going to need to use the spotlight on him this Saturday night to call out the Mexican star if he successfully defeats the 33-year-old Porter.
When ESPN sticks the microphone in Crawford’s face moments after the fight, he needs to take advantage of the situation by calling out Canelo while millions of eyeballs are gazing at him. Crawford shouldn’t waste time thanking his management and trainers, and he’s got to dare Canelo to meet him at 168.
Other than Canelo, Crawford doesn’t have a lot of options. He says he wants IBF/WBC welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr, but we don’t know if he will come back from his eye injury.
Spence’s career situation is looking murky right now because not only has he looked like a shadow of his former self since his car crash in 2019; his recent retinal tear has put his career in doubt.
Crawford says he wouldn’t mind fighting 33-year-old Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman, but it looks like that guy is finished. Whatever ambition that former WBA/WBC welterweight champion Thurman once had is gone after he got a big payday fighting Manny Pacquiao in 2019.
Thurman keeps saying he’s going to fight, but then he doesn’t do it. Unfortunately, Thurman can’t break free from the inertia that has got him so that he can relaunch his stalled career.
“It depends on the fashion that I beat him in,” Crawford said. “There are people out there that give me credit, but it’s always going to be them people that say, ‘He’s supposed to beat Porter; Porter’s the gatekeeper. We want to see him against Errol Spence. We want to see him against 154 [-pound] champions.’ And I’m just preparing myself for when that comes,” said Crawford imagining all the negativity that will come his way if he successfully beats Porter on Saturday.
Of course, Crawford isn’t going to get credit because Porter already was beaten by Spence, Thurman, Kell Brook, and arguably beaten by Yordenis Ugas. That’s why Crawford should have picked Jaron Ennis or Vergil Ortiz Jr. instead.
“I went in Bob Arum’s office and said, ‘Listen, give me this fight, give me this fight, this the fight I want. My two fights were Pacquiao and Spence,” said Crawford.