Crawford Fight Would Be An Embarrassment

Trainer Jose Benavidez Sr. dismisses the idea of his son, David Benavidez, fighting Terence Crawford. He says Benavidez is “too big” for the 38-year-old Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs), and it would be an “embarrassment” if the fight happens.

BoMac Shuts the Door

Benavidez Sr. notes that Terence’s trainer, Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre, has already said that he doesn’t want Crawford to fight him. It’s not just him. Crawford already said he doesn’t want to fight him, and the way he said it, he’s likely going to resist if Turki Alalshikh attempts to push him. Crawford isn’t the type who can be pressured to take on different fighters. He only faces guys he wants to.

Crawford’s Belt Problem

“Little by little, they’re going to take those belts away, or he’s going to have to defend them, and the task is going to be a little bit harder,” said trainer Jose Benavidez Sr. to Fight Hub TV, predicting that it’ll be difficult for Terence Crawford to hold onto his four belts at 168.

Crawford is going to begin vacating his four super middleweight titles one by one to avoid dangerous fights against his mandatory challengers, Osleys Iglesias and Christian Mbilli. I predict that Terence won’t give them up all at once because he’ll hold onto them for marketability purposes. But once he’s given a deadline to fight Mbilli or Iglesias, you’ll see those titles given up. Those guys are too young, too powerful, and all wrong for Crawford. What he did against Canelo, he wouldn’t be able to do against Osleys or Mbilli.

“The reason why Canelo was asking for $200 million was that he knew it was a big risk [to fight David Benavidez]. He [wound up] losing to a smaller guy [Crawford]. He could definitely do 168. We didn’t move to 175 because of the weight. We moved because of the opportunities,’ said Jose Sr.

Benavidez should move down to 168 if Turki Alalshikh can convince Crawford to fight him, because he’s not going to get the fights he wants at 175. Dmitry Bivol has shown zero interest in fighting Benavidez and even gave up his WBC title to avoid fighting him. Artur Beterbiev is about to turn 41, and it’s unclear how much interest that fight will generate from American fans. With Beterbiev coming off a loss ot Bivol, there’s no gain for Benavidez in fighting him other than financially if Turki wants to pay him $10 million or more.

“Too Big for Crawford”

“He only fought two fights at 175, and after Anthony Yarde, he’ll be in shape. I think he could do 168. That would be an embarrassment for me to say. David is too big for Crawford. Now you see ‘BoMac.’ They’re not interested in David,” said Benavidez Sr. about Team Crawford.

While Crawford’s fans might think that Benavidez Sr. is bitter about Bud getting the fight that he’d wanted for his son, David, and beating the Mexican star, the reality is, he’s right. Benavidez is “too big.” He’s also too young and throws too many punches for Crawford to handle at any age, not just now that he’s 38.

We’ve seen how Crawford goes about winning his fights, using counter-punching, moving, and holding. That strategy wouldn’t be effective against Benavidez. If he ran all night to evade ‘The Mexican Monster,’ he’d lose a decision unless the judges gave him a controversial win. He can’t stand and fight Benavidez because he doesn’t have the output. The hit-and-hold that Crawford likes to do wouldn’t work because he’d get brained on the inside.

Will Arons has covered the sport of boxing since 2015, delivering sharp analysis and ringside insight on the game’s biggest names and emerging stars across every major weight class.