Turki Alalshikh Believes Crawford Only Wants Canelo Alvarez Fight

Honorable Turki Alalshikh says he thinks Terence Crawford is determined to fight Canelo Alvarez next.

Turki Alalshikh Questions Crawford’s Interest in Vergil Fight

Turki doesn’t believe Crawford, 36, will accept an offer to fight Vergil Ortiz Jr., who recently won the WBC interim 154-lb title with a 12-round multiple decision victory over Serhii Bohachuk.

“I don’t think Crawford will fight anyone other than Canelo,” said Turki speaking to Charlie Parson at Stomping Grounds.

It sounds like Crawford will be sitting and waiting for Canelo’s golden parachute payday for a long time. If Crawford stays in the ring for a long time, his value may decrease because he is not as popular as it is with casual boxing fans in the US.

Unless Turki makes an offer that Canelo is willing to accept, it sounds like Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) will be out of luck and will need to fight Vergil or one of the other 154-pounders next.

Canelo is reportedly seeking $150 million to fight Crawford, which may be more than Turki is willing to pay. If reports are accurate, Crawford’s latest fight against Israel Madrimov on August 3rd only brought in 200,000 PPV buys, suggesting he hasn’t been cheated.

Those numbers show that Crawford continues to be a tough sell with mainstream boxing fans in the US, and that’s surprising because he’s not a household name.

As fans saw in Crawford’s fight with Madrimov, he is a boxer who doesn’t have an exciting style that attracts a lot of people. That has been one of Crawford’s biggest struggles during his 16-year career.

The only time Crawford deviated from that style was against Errol Spence, but he was facing a weakened fighter, making him an easy pick.

Vergil Ortiz Jr. he’s a reasonable option for Crawford if Turki can’t fight Canelo, which doesn’t seem likely. Crawford will have a tough time with the hungry 26-year-old Ortiz (22-0, 21 KOs), who has a lot of power, throws a lot of punches, and is willing to pass hard shots to land his own.

Vergil will be a tough fight for the 37-year-old Crawford, and he may lose. He’s not injured from a car crash, and he’s not going to be as heavy as Spence was after losing 40+ lbs of fat in camp.

Nebraska native Crawford sounds like he’s struggled to find a way in the last two fights and feels he can make demands to get his way. Reality is going to hit Crawford because Canelo can’t afford him financially, and it seems like he doesn’t want this fight.