A fight between pound-for-pound stars Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford look inevitable up until this past weekend, when the latter had one of the toughest tests of his career against Israil Madrimov for the WBA light middleweight world title.
Though he emerged victorious and claimed world honours at a fourth weight class, Crawford was pushed all the way by the talented Uzbek, leading most observers to essentially write off his chances of jumping up a further two divisions and troubling Canelo.
In a statement on social media yesterday, Turki Alalshikh – who had previously stated his intention to make a blockbuster between ‘Bud’ and Alvarez – admitted he “did not want” the fight any more.
This has lead fans to speculate on who Crawford will instead take on next, with 154lb match ups against the likes of Tim Tszyu and Sebastian Fundora amongst the most discussed potential bouts.
Undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo, however, told media this week that he believes super lightweight titlist, Teofimo Lopez deserves a shot at the Omaha favourite.
“I’m not asking for that fight. I think Teofimo Lopez deserves it more than me. My response to Turki is this – yesterday they text me to talk about the Crawford fight in February and I said, ‘I’m not gonna talk about any other fight.’
“I respect Turki, but if he wants to work with me, it needs to be my way.”
The Mexican superstar was speaking at the launch press conference for his September 14th showdown with Edgar Berlanga, which will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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Though Berlanga is undefeated and boasts an eye catching KO ratio, most fans were underwhelmed by the news he had landed a fight with Alvarez, who continues to look reluctant to take on consensus number one contender David Benavidez.
