Canelo Alvarez says he saw enough of Terence Crawford’s ability in his last fight against Israil Madrimov at 154 to know it would be an “easy fight” for him if they met at 168. However, Canelo stresses that a fight with Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) will only happen if his price is met, which he previously said is $150 million.

(Photo credit: Rey Del Rio/Premier Boxing Champions)

Crawford still hopes that the Canelo fight is next, but the only person on earth who can give the Nebraska native that golden payout for his retirement is His Excellency Turki Alalshikh. The price for Alvarez might be too high even for him.

Whatever Canelo asks for, Crawford would also want a sizable check, and in the end it won’t balance. Assuming Turki accommodates Canelo by giving him the $150 million, Crawford would probably want some of it, since he believes he deserves $75 million. He would want some of that money, too.

Ultimately, this is not a fight like the one between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, where the revenue could be generated in large quantities. Mayweather-Pacquiao generated revenue of 600 million US dollars for their fight on May 2, 2015, but these two fighters were proven PPV attractions.

Crawford has never proven himself to be a PPV attraction. He has only had one successful PPV event against Errol Spence in July 2023. That fight brought in 700,000 buys. Before that, Crawford’s most successful PPV fight was against Amir Khan, which brought in only 150,000 buys.

His Excellency Turki should better focus on pitting Canelo against the winner of the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol fight, as this would have better revenue opportunities than a Canelo-Crawford fight.

“What we saw in his last fight with him (Israil Madrimov). That’s what weight classes are for. That’s what I think. For me it’s an easy fight,” Canelo Alvarez told YouTube channel Manouk Akopyan when asked why he thinks a fight between him and Terence Crawford would be easy.

Crawford did not look good at all in his debut in the 154 division on August 3 against the WBA junior middleweight world champion Israil Madrimov. He only narrowly defeated Madrimov and looked weak and very old at 36 years of age.

Unlike the 39-year-old Beterbiev, who is a massive puncher with an outstanding inside fight, Crawford is more of a speed fighter who wins by outboxing his opponents. Those types of fighters are no longer successful when they hit their mid-30s, especially when they are as inactive as Crawford.

“He moves a lot; he’s a good fighter and a good boxer. He’s going to be complicated in the first three or four rounds, but then I see through him and that’s what I think,” Canelo said about the outcome of a possible fight with Crawford.

Canelo could actually put Crawford under pressure with his power punches in the first two or three rounds because he won’t let him jab from distance without countering. That’s all Crawford did against Madrimov: jab and run around, making it a boring game of chess. Canelo isn’t going to put up with that boring stuff without beating Crawford.

“Could be, why not? We’re in boxing,” Canelo said when asked about potentially facing Crawford, David Benavidez and the winner of Artur Beterbiev’s fight against Dmitry Bivol. “You already know that. I already told you,” Canelo said of the price he’s asking for to agree to fight those guys. “You know the answer, buddy.”

Canelo is saying here that he won’t consider any of these fights unless he gets $100-200 million, and that seems unrealistic. David Benavidez fights in the 175 weight class and recently made a terrible impression in his debut in that weight class. He shouldn’t even be up for discussion.