Terence Crawford’s Quest For Greatness: Is It Just About The Canelo Payday?

Terence Crawford continued his tireless, desperate campaign to get a fight against Canelo Alvarez, telling his followers on social media that he just wants to “show the world how great I am.”

If it’s about Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) wanting to prove how “great” he is and not about picking up retirement cash, he should move up to 168 and fight David Benavidez and David Morrell. The way fans see it, Crawford is just out for the money and is not even thinking about fighting the young killers.

Terence has many options at 154 for excellent fights. He didn’t look great in his debut at 154, struggling to defeat 11-fight champion Israil Madrimov on August 3rd. Crawford was eating right hands like candy from Madrimov and showed no power in that fight. Afterward, Crawford looked like he’d come off of a battlefield. He was in bad shape, with his face swollen, right eye bruised, and haggard-looking. I must say, Madrimov left Crawford in a sorry state.

The King’s Court: Earning the Right to Face Canelo

Crawford is in the same position Benavidez is in terms of getting a fight against the King of the sport, Canelo. To meet with the King, you must earn it somehow. Since Crawford lacks the popularity to be blessed, he must defeat these sharks to strengthen his position: Benavidez, Morrell, Artur Beterbiev, and Dmitry Bivol.

“I really just want to show the world how great I am,” said Terence Crawford on Instagram, explaining why he wants to fight Canelo Alvarez so badly at 168.

Crawford’s Potential Path to Canelo 

– David Benavidez
– Dmitry Bivol
– Jaron Ennis
– Artur Beterbiev
– David Morrell
– Vergil Ortiz Jr.
– Sebastian Fundora

Is it asking too much of Crawford to work his way through these guys to earn a fight against Canelo? If Crawford wants the Canelo fight badly enough, he’ll run the gauntlet through these killers to get that golden parachute for retirement.

Crawford is only fighting once a year, won’t fight Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, and has shown no interest in facing Vergil Ortiz Jr. He just wants the Canelo fight, and that’s off-putting. When a fighter gets to that stage, they must retire already because the love of the sport and competition is just not there.

Those two would agree to fight Crawford, and he could prove how “great” he is against them before resuming his campaign to get the retirement payday against the Mexican star Canelo Alvarez.