Tim Bradley took to his soapbox this week to pressure Canelo Alvarez to give Terence Crawford the fight he demanded against him.
It’s the fight that Crawford, 37, urgently wants but has remained elusive to him due to his reluctance to win it through hard work beating top dogs at 168 and 175.
Golden parachute
Bradley urges unified super middleweight champion Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) not to “run away” from a fight against Crawford. This fight does nothing for Canelo. This is seen as a way for Crawford to get the golden parachute that will allow him to land softly into retirement and allow him to live comfortably into his golden years in a giant mansion in Beverly Hills.
Crawford (41-0, 31 KO) looked horrible in his last fight against 154-pound champion Israil Madrimov on August 3 and showed he had reached the limit of where he could go as he progressed in divisions. Terence ate Madrimov’s right hands all night and looked like an old man in this fight. Why might Canelo want to fight Crawford after this performance?
“Canelo, don’t run from this. You already ran away from the Benavidez fight,” Tim Bradley said on his YouTube channel, talking about his desire for Canelo Alvarez to fight Terence Crawford. “You don’t care what people have to say about you about not accepting the fight anyway.
“You’re traveling around Mexico and you obviously don’t care what people think of you for not taking this fight. Do the fight with Crawford. This is a fight that everyone wants to see you fight, and this is going to give Crawford the opportunity to show you and show the world his greatness,” Bradley continued.
“Everyone talks about weight. “Oh, he’ll knock him out.” When was the last time Canelo knocked someone out? Y’all can stop with this, “He’s going to knock Crawford out.” Canelo is the same height as Crawford [5’8″]. Canelo started at 147 pounds. He’s not a natural at 168 pounds,” Bradley said.
Canelo is much bigger, stronger and more talented than Crawford. Fans saw how 37-year-old Terence barely beat Israil Madrimov in his debut at 154 last August, and they rightly view the Nebraska native as being too small and too old to go from 14 pounds to 168 and challenge Canelo for his unified titles. .
Proving ground
If Crawford was ready to prove himself by moving up to 168 and taking on the challenge David Benavidez, David Morrell, Artur Beterbiev and Christian Mbilli, fans wouldn’t be opposed to this fight happening. But since Crawford isn’t willing to do that, he doesn’t relish a fight against King Canelo. He is ignored like other fighters in need who beg Alvarez to give them an undeserved fight.
To meet the king, you must do something big. It’s always been like this. Crawford tries to skip this part and just beg for the fight or have others try to pressure Canelo on his behalf.
“We have just seen a fighter [Oleksandr Usyk] he was 50 pounds lighter than the other man [Tyson Fury] which he faced, and he beat him. He beat him with his skill, his ability, his heart and his determination. Usyk is a great fighter. You know who else is great, it’s Crawford,” Bradley said.
The difference is that Tyson Fury, 36, is completely failed in the clinical sense, still overrated and manufactured, thanks to the careful matchmaking carried out by his promoters.
Canelo is no work in progress and has real talent to match his power and size. More importantly, he’s a proven PPV draw. Crawford is not a PPV draw and never will be. This fight is simply to help Crawford financially and make his fans, like Bradley, happy.
This fight does nothing for Canelo. If Bradley really cared, he would position Crawford to take on the killers in the 154-pound division, which includes many of those he has yet to fight. Bakhram Muratazaliev is waiting for Crawford, and if he wants to cement his legacy, he needs to fight him.
