Saturday night saw Terence Crawford become boxing’s 24th four-weight world champion, edging out a razor-thin unanimous-decision against WBA super-welterweight champion Israil Madrimov in a highly technical encounter. As the arguable pound-for-pound number one, there are a plethora of options for ‘Bud’ and we at Boxing Social decided to take a look at who the 41-0 superstar could face next.
1. Canelo Alvarez
If you had been living under a rock for the last 12 months then you would rightfully believe Canelo-Crawford to be nothing more than a fantasy fight, although in the Turki Al-Alshikh era, anything is possible.
Canelo and Crawford have been linked to a showdown for almost a year now and it appeared as though the pair would meet in December, once Canelo assumably overcomes Edgar Berlanga in their September encounter.
Immediately after Crawford’s win over Madrimov, Canelo was the name that he was quizzed on and whilst he admitted his obvious interest in such a proposal, he added that a fight against the undisputed super-middleweight champion would purely be for the money.
It would be a shame for Crawford to lose his undefeated record by moving up too many weights and being outsized rather than being outclassed. After Saturday’s victory, it was expected that the scrap would seem closer than ever, yet interest appears to have diminished due to Crawford’s difficulties dealing with a 154lber in Madrimov and it could be for the best that he and Canelo are kept apart.
Any major chances of the fight happening could have been ended after Al-Alshikh stated this week he was no longer interested in making the bout, but whether that could just be a smokescreen, time will tell.
2. Vergil Ortiz Jr.
Turki Al-Alshikh had been the man spearheading cries to see Crawford square off with Canelo but has also revealed that Vergil Ortiz is the ‘plan B’ that they are now potentially looking at.
Ortiz Jr. was poised to face Tim Tsyzu on the Crawford-Madrimov undercard on Saturday in a tantalising affair but instead the fight was pulled due to an injury to the Australian, leaving Ortiz to fight Serhii Bohachuk for the WBC interim title next weekend, hoping to improve upon his perfect record of 21 wins, 21 KO’s.
The Texan stands out as the biggest puncher at super-welterweight and is likely Crawford’s biggest threat as a result, given that ‘Bud’ first reigned in the lightweight division. If Crawford wants to establish himself as the top dog at 154lbs, then he need look no further than Ortiz, despite the fact that he doesn’t hold a world title.
3. Errol Spence Jr.
The rivalry between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. has been one of the most prevalent in recent memory but when the two welterweight champions finally met for the undisputed title, the contest didn’t really deliver – even if Crawford did.
Crawford famously decimated his nemesis to become the undisputed king but the underperformance of Errol Spence Jr. has always led fans to believe that he was weight drained on the night and it must be a thought that has crept into the back of Crawford’s head since and cast doubt over the best performance of his career.
Spence activated his rematch clause shortly after the defeat but a cataract surgery meant that part two of their clash has yet to be delivered. A rematch up at a more natural weight for Spence could silence any remaining doubt over Crawford’s show-stopping win and remains as one of the most lucrative options.
4. Sebastian Fundora
Another issue in the way of a rematch with Spence is the rumours that Sebastian Fundora will instead fight him, in a first defence of his WBC and WBO world titles, although there have been suspicions that Spence may pull out due to an injury.
If that were to be the case, it would make sense for Crawford to target the unified champion and speed up his undisputed run, especially given that he is Fundora’s mandatory challenger for the WBO belt. The main concern of this option would be the stature of the 6’5” aptly named ‘Towering Inferno’ – who would boast a significant physical advantage over the 5’8” Crawford.
Reports of Fundora-Spence first broke in May with their meeting expected to take place in October but there has been nothing officially confirmed as of yet.
5. Bakhram Murtazaliev
Last but not least is a battle with IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev, who knocked out Jack Culcay for the vacant belt in April.
Whilst his name is not one that will help Crawford sell pay-per-views or necessarily add to his résumé, the Russian is an inevitable step towards the undisputed throne and must be defeated if Crawford is to become the first three-weight undisputed conqueror of the four-belt era.
Murtazaliev may not be a Canelo/Spence level opponent but he did weights over four years as IBF mandatory challenger for his shot at the title and this would be a worthy reward, plus he is known on U.S. shores even if he is not lauded, having fought 14 of his last 16 bouts in the United States since moving to California.
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