Serhii Bohachuk says he thinks it’s “too much” of a jump up in weight for Terence Crawford, going from 154 to 168 to face Canelo Alvarez on Saturday, September 13, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
The former WBC interim junior middleweight champion Bohachuk points out that a fighter can feel it when they move up just one weight class. The punches are harder. He believes that for Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) to be going up two divisions to fight Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) for his undisputed super middleweight championship, it’ll be too much.
Bohachuk’s Two-Division Warning
“Too much. I’m a boxer. I know what it is when you change one weight division. When you change one division, you feel the power, and he’s jumping two divisions,” said former WBC interim junior middleweight champion Serhii Bohachuk to Fight Hub TV about Terence Crawford moving up from 154 to 168 to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his undisputed super middleweight championship on Saturday night.
Crawford and his trainer, Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre, both seem very confident that they’re going to win this fight against Canelo. They’ve studied his fights and likely have spotted weaknesses in his game that make them think that they can handle the two-division weight jump.
“A lot of people told me Crawford is very strong. You can be strong at 154. You can be strong at 160, but 168 is too much. It’s Canelo’s weight division,” said Bohachuk.
It’s questionable whether Crawford could be strong at 160. If he moved up to that weight class, he’d have to tangle with the top fighters, Carlos Adames and Janibek Alimkhanuly. Those guys hit hard, and they’re young.
The Power of Canelo
“When Crawford feels Canelo’s power, it’ll be a problem for him. One fight before, he went from 147. He changed one division and his first fight against Madrimov, a very close fight,” said Bohachuk.
Crawford is likely going to fight defensively, trying not to get hit because he won’t want to mix it up with Canelo after he first gets hit by him. It’s too much, too soon. He could have moved up to 168 and fought two contenders in the year that he’s been off
“That was just one weight division. Now, he jumps two weight divisions. For me, it’s too much. I think Canelo beats him,” said Bohachuk.
The two-division weight jump for Crawford after his narrow 12-round unanimous decision victory over Madrimov at 154 makes it impossible to see him winning this fight against Canelo. I believe even Crawford knows he’s over his head with this fight, but is taking it for money purposes.
If he is doing it for legacy purposes, I believe he knows he only has a small chance of winning. The fact that Crawford didn’t even take one tune-up to get acclimated to the 168-lb division is a bad sign. He’s not prepared enough to undertake this kind of fight.
