By Norm Frauenheim –
So far, it’s been a summer defined by a new face, Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, and a resurrected one, Jaron “Boots” Ennis. Now, it’s Terence Crawford’s turn to make a statement about himself and his place in an evolving game.
Safe to say, it’s changing.
Safe also to say, that nothing has changed about Crawford or his unshakable belief about where he belongs.
Bud is back to re-affirm — or perhaps remind us with a re-make of legend Roy Jones Jr.’s Ya’ll Must’ve Forgot lyric — that his pound-for-pound dominance has defied time’s inevitable corrosiveness over the many months since beating Errol Spence last year with a masterful performance powerful enough to belong in just about any time.
Crawford, undisputed at welterweight and junior-welter, gets that chance on August 3 when he re-enters the bully pulpit at a heavier weight, 154 pounds, against Isrial Madrimov, a first time junior-middleweight champion, in an intriguing bout at a new arena on some historical real estate in Los Angeles.
It’s a fight about possibilities and risk. It’s also a fight generating ticket sales and anticipation among fans anxious to see Crawford for the first time in about 13 months. He’s 36-years-old. He’ll be 37 in September, an age which usually means a fighter is beginning to exit his prime. Time and again, however, Crawford proves he’s unusual.
Against Spence, his brilliance prompted many to wonder, indeed argue, whether he could have held his own in the 1970s and 1980s against Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran and Thomas Hearns, writer George Kimball’s Four Kings. We’ll never really know.
Nevertheless, Crawford might be the only fighter in today’s generation that some believe could have had a real chance — could have been a Fifth King — in what was a golden era.
Some argue that pay-per-view star Canelo Álvarez belongs in the argument. Maybe, he does. It’s an interesting debate. Actually, it’s more than that. It could be settled within the ropes instead of only in the imagination.
Crawford-versus-Canelo is a real possibility — perhaps the biggest — attached to Crawford’s bid to win a fourth title at a fourth weight against Madrimov. Saudi Prince and Promoter Turki Alalshikh has the money to make it happen.
After all, Saudi money is making the Los Angeles card happen, a first for the Riyadh Season, which is moving from the Middle East to a longtime, lively fight town on the West Coast. Unlike Riyadh, there’ll actually be a crowd there, one which figures to include a huge number of Mexican and Mexican-American fans. Canelo fans.
They’ve known about the Crawford-Canelo possibility. They’ve heard the talk for months. Among fight fans — a diminishing population, there’s skepticism because of the difference in weight.
Canelo is the undisputed super-middleweight champion, 168 pounds, two divisions higher than the weight Crawford will be at for the first time against Madrimov. On the scale, it just looks like a jump too far.
Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn believes it is. He says Canelo-Crawford won’t happen, mostly because it puts Canelo in a no-win situation.
The Mexican, Hearn says, wouldn’t get credit for a win. Because of his weight advantage, he’d be expected to win easily. But Canelo, who lost to Dmitry Bivol in a jump to light-heavyweight in 2022, is seeking only credit attached to a dollar sign. Prince Alalshikh has that kind of credit — seven figures and more — to offer.
Still, Hearn believes Crawford will discover on Aug. 3 that he already has gone too far up the scale. Hearn believes Madrimov, a mostly unknown Uzbek with reported power and athleticism, can win. Of course, Hearn has to say that. He is Madrimov’s promoter
“These great fighters only get beaten when they go up the scale,’’ Hearn said at a news conference when Crawford-Madrimov was formally announced. “I’m hoping.”
Crawford was seated down the table from Hearn for the live-streamed newser.
“You hoping?’’ Crawford, already knowing the answer, interrupted.
Hearn already knows what happens when you pick against Crawford. In March 2014, Crawford traveled to Scotland and scored a unanimous decision over Hearns-promoted Ricky Burns for his first significant title, the World Boxing Organization’s lightweight belt.
Still, Hearn’s many-sided interests includes another possibility: Crawford against Ennis. Ennis is coming off an impressive fifth-round stoppage of David Avanesyan in a Philadelphia homecoming last Saturday.
Ennis, a 27-year-old welterweight champion, has long talked about a chance to fight Crawford. If the unbeaten Crawford loses or even struggles at 154 pounds against Madrimov, forget Canelo.
Then, Hearn believes Crawford-versus-Ennis could happen in a season that might be remembered for Bam, Boots and Bud. Hearn said the possibility has already been mentioned in a conversation with Turki Alalshikh.
“He said if there’s no Canelo fight, he wants to make Boots-versus-Crawford,’’ Hearn said. “Would we do it? The answer: Of course.’’
But the aforementioned if leaves little doubt about Prince Alalshikh’s priority. First and foremost, he wants Crawford-Canelo in a bout that would attract so-called crossover fans for what could deliver a decisive answer, rare in any day and especially so in today’s balkanized business.
Who’s the best, Crawford or Canelo? On the historical scale, it would matter. It would determine the best fighter since the Floyd Mayweather era and perhaps one good enough to be a Fifth King.
