Jones Jr.: Canelo Must Prove Himself Against Crawford at 168

Roy Jones Jr. says Canelo Alvarez has to prove he can beat Terence Crawford when he moves up to 168, but not the other way around.

Canelo has not yet said whether he will fight Crawford, and it could depend on whether His Excellency Turki Alalshikh can negotiate the fight. After Crawford’s last performance against Israil Madrimov and the lackluster PPV titles, it is doubtful that Turki will pursue the Canelo-Crawford fight.

Crawford’s undefeated record speaks for itself

Former four-division world champion Jones Jr. argues that Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) has never been defeated and is moving up in weight, so he could have a shot at beating super middleweight champion Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs), depending on their game plans.

Roy says you can’t ignore Crawford’s problems because of the difficulties he had in his 154 debut last month against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov, as he was facing a fighter from Uzbekistan with a skill set similar to Vasily Lomachenko.

It seemed that Crawford was having problems with Madrimov’s power, not just his skill. The power that Crawford had at 147 didn’t carry over to 154, and he was forced to use his jab to win the fight.

It was a close call as Madrimov outscored him in every round, but the judges gave Crawford the win because he had worked harder in the last four rounds.

“You can’t say no to Crawford until someone beats him. As long as he’s making weight, no one’s going to beat him,” Roy Jones Jr. told the Fighthype YouTube channel when asked if Terence Crawford can beat Canelo Alvarez at 168.

Someone could probably beat Crawford if he was willing to fight other guys at 154, 160 or 168. If you put Crawford with David Benavidez, David Morrell or Christian Mbilli, one or more fighters could beat him, giving Canelo a reason to say “no” to Crawford.

Crawford is clearly not unbeatable, but we can say that he is cautious and does not want to test himself anymore. He is just waiting to see if Canelo will give him the fight, which is seen as a strategic move by Crawford.

“If they get him down to 147 or 140, they might have a chance because that’s more demanding than going up in weight,” Jones said of Craword. “As long as he’s going up, the sky’s the limit for Bud. Canelo’s a tough cookie to crack, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying he’s going to beat Canelo, but Canelo’s going to have to beat him.”

Crawford could still beat anyone at 147 and 140 if he were to move up to those weight classes, given how weak the level of competition is. But since he’s focused on money, he won’t be pushing his luck.

“He doesn’t have to beat Canelo. Canelo has to beat him,” Jones said in his cryptic comment/

It’s unclear what Jones Jr. means when he says Canelo should beat Crawford and not the other way around. It almost sounds like double entendre code to say he thinks Crawford would have the upper hand, which makes no sense unless you ignore his weight, his last performance and his advancing age.

“I wasn’t surprised at all because Madrimov is one of those guys with an exceptional amateur background. These fighters from Uzbekistan are some of the best fighters in the world championship,” Jones Jr. said when asked if he was surprised by how much trouble Crawford had against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on Aug. 3.

Madrimov’s success against Crawford had nothing to do with his background, but was based on his strength, size, youth and willingness to throw right-handed. He could have been American and he would have had the same success against Crawford.

“They and Kazakhstan have probably won more medals at the Olympics recently than the Russians, Americans and Cubans because their technique is so good,” Jones Jr. said. “So when you see a guy from that part of the world come out, you know these guys are no joke.”

There are some great fighters from Eastern Europe, but Madrimov didn’t fight a great fight and looked nothing like Lomachenko against Crawford. Madrimov landed because Crawford was trying to beat him and he used his aggressiveness to hit him with his right hands.

If Madrimov had fought harder in rounds 10 through 12, he would have won, but he seemed to lose his nerve when Crawford went on the attack. If he had fought like ‘Little GGG’, Crawford would have been in trouble at the end.

“This guy (Madrimov) was 10-0 at that point, and look how much trouble he caused Bud. You have to remember that these are the Lomachenko type guys now. That’s not normal,” Jones Jr. said.

“Who says he doesn’t have a chance? Why doesn’t he have a chance?” Jones said of Crawford’s chances of beating Canelo. “Depending on how Canelo fights him will determine the outcome of the fight.”

Crawford would have a chance against Canelo if he followed Mayweather’s blueprint of jabbing, moving, getting low, and clinching wherever he could get near. That would be very boring for fans who prefer action and entertainment, but those who like pure boxing would be happy to see Crawford apply Floyd’s blueprint.

“What’s going to determine the fight is what approach Canelo takes, because if he takes the wrong approach, he’s going to lose,” Jones Jr. said. “If he takes the right approach, he’s almost guaranteed to win, but if he takes the wrong approach, he’s definitely going to lose.”

Jones is really not saying anything here. He is sitting on the fence without telling the fans what he really thinks, but with the way he is hyping up Crawford, it seems like he thinks he can beat Canelo.

“So for me, it’s not who is the better fighter. It’s who takes the right approach to the fight. Canelo is the bigger man. If he takes the right approach, he should win the fight. If he takes the wrong approach, he will definitely lose the fight,” Jones Jr. said.