Crawford’s Canelo Dream: A Matter Of Entitlement Or Hard Work?

Terence Crawford may never fight again if he doesn’t get the Canelo Alvarez big payday fight dropped into his lap.

If the Nebraska native Crawford chooses not to return to the ring to strengthen his position for a match against Canelo, it’ll be his loss because the Mexican star has plenty of opposition to fight.

Earning the Right to Face Royalty

He doesn’t need Crawford, especially since he shows so little ambition to continue fighting after his bad experience with his poor showing in his debut at 154 against Israil Madrimov.

When you get someone who feels entitled after doing so little, that’s someone to ignore. King Canelo is better off focusing on hard workers who believe in earning the privilege of meeting in his royal chambers.

To meet with the king, you must slay fire-breathing dragons and display pure courage. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen that from Crawford.

Terence still didn’t fight The Big Four: David Benavidez, David Morrell, Osleys Iglesias, and Christian Mbilli. If he really wants the Canelo fight, he should prove it by slaying these four dragons. Otherwise, clam up an retire already.

Crawford hit his ceiling in that fight and was fortunate to win. Madrimov gave Crawford a boxing lesson, nailing him with right hands and exposing his age and lack of power.

Crawford’s fans supporters believe he’s earned the Canelo payday based on his accomplishments during his 16-year career. They feel he rates a world title shot at 168, with you having to earn the fight by beating the top contenders like normal fighters would.

Terence Crawford’s Flimsy Record

– Israil Madrimov: WBA 154
– Errol Spence: IBF, WBA and WBC 147
– Jeff Horn: WBO 147
– Julius Indongo: IBF and WBA 140
– Viktor Postol: WBC 140
– Thomas Dulorme: WBO 140
– Ricky Burns: WBO 130

Earn or Retire

Those victories aren’t good enough for the praise he’s getting from Crawford’s sycophants. If Crawford wants the retirement payday, he should have to earn like anyone does in life. Isn’t that how it usually goes? You earn things through hard work, and you don’t take shortcuts by fighting scrubs for 16 years. Then, expect the Canelo fight to be laid at his feet like he’s a royal king.

It’s believed that the money Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) got for his last two fights against Israil Madrimov and Errol Spence has put him in a mental place where he won’t accept anything less but the same kind of dough for any fights.

Unfortunately, no one that Crawford can fight at 154 will provide him the same cash. So, instead of returning to work and taking what the job will pay, Crawford will wait for the Canelo retirement payday.

Those aren’t good enough wins for Crawford to be seen as having done anything special during his career, and not nearly good enough to rate a golden parachute at 168 against Canelo Alvarez.

Beating Madrimov by a razor-thin decision in a fight that could have gone either way doesn’t translate to Crawford rating a massive payday against Canelo. The Crawford-Madrimov event reportedly failed to bring in good PPV numbers, another reason why Crawford isn’t useless for Canelo to fight.

Fawning Praise and Poor Critical Thinking

“He wants to get the big-money fight against Canelo Alvarez and then retire. But if he can’t get the Canelo fight, what else is there to do in boxing?” said Tim Bradley to the Probox TV YouTube channel, talking about Terence Crawford. “He’s already accomplished everything you can do in boxing. Why continue?

“In terms of legacy, he’s done it all. There’s not much more for him to accomplish in the sport,” said Chris Algieri about Crawford. “He’s going to go down as probably the most accomplished fighter that has ever lived, especially in the four-belt era.”

What is Algieri talking about? Crawford isn’t the “most accomplished fighter” during this era or any era of the sport. He’s beaten no one other than the weight-drained, car crash-wrecked shell of Errol Spence, which should have an asterisk next to the win in the record books.

Other than that, Crawford’s best win was against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on August 3rd, and that was a razor-close victory that was decided in the final three rounds when the Uzbekh chose to fight passively instead of stepping on the gas the way he should have.

There was nothing great about that performance from Crawford. He would have lost that fight if Madrimov had sense enough to know that he needed to put his foot on the accelerator.

How is Crawford the “most accomplished fighter” who has ever lived when his seven world title-capturing wins are against the above-level fighters? Does beating Dulorme, Burns, Postol, and Indongo make Crawford the “most accomplished fighter?”

A Career of Avoiding Risk

Many people seem to lack critical thinking ability and give fighters wacky praise, which makes no sense. The truth is that Crawford is another Adrien Broner type of fighter who has glided through four weight divisions without fighting anyone risky.

“He deserves the big paydays. There was a long stretch in his career when he wasn’t getting those paydays,” said Algieri.