Crawford’s Age A Factor In Potential Canelo Clash, Says Garcia

Trainer Robert Garcia says Canelo Alvarez will fight Terence Crawford in May 2025. However, he doesn’t see Crawford winning because he’s getting older, and Canelo is naturally stronger than him.

He also takes a good punch and has been hit by harder punchers than Crawford, who looked weak in his debut at 154 against Israil Madrimov on August 3rd.

Crawford’s Age And Decline

Robert says Crawford isn’t ducking a fight against WBC interim 154-lb champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. He just feels that the 37-year-old Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) is aging and wants to get the biggest money possible before he soon retires.

Garcia says Crawford could make three times more money fighting Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) than he would against Vergil Jr. If Turki Alalshikh is willing to pay Canelo an enormous amount of money to fight the older, thinner, weaker Crawford, the fight can happen.

Given that Terence would be making his debut at 168 by moving up two weight classes, it would be impossible to see a scenario where he could win. It would be a business-level fight.

A Celebrity Match

When you get a fighter as old as Crawford, who didn’t look good in his debut at 154, going up another two weight classes to 168, it’s not a serious fight. It’s a celebrity match.

For it to be serious, Crawford would have to reach 168 and prove himself against the top contenders. If he succeeds in three or four tough fights, then he could face Canelo.

Terence’s Path to Legitimacy

Put Crawford in with these three to allow him to show he’s worthy of fighting King Canelo:

David Benavidez
David Morrell
Osleys Iglesias

He’s not interested in proving himself with even one fight at 168; that just shows you what he’s after. It’s the money and NOT legacy. That’s a joke. That has nothing to do with what Crawford’s purpose is.

If this were the real world, Crawford would have to move up to 168 and gain the prerequisite experience to prove that he’s suited for the position and deserves it.

Terence does not have to do that here, and the ones who will lose are the fans because he’s going to get wiped by Canelo or make it very, very boring like Jermell Charlo did when he moved up from 154 in 2023 to challenge Canelo. Jermell is bigger, faster, and stronger than Crawford.

He couldn’t do anything with Canelo and was forced to run to save his hide. The fight was unwatchable, but Charlo got his big payday, and he hasn’t been seen since inside the ring. It was a cash out for him, and the fans got a poor product for the money they paid to see the fight on PPV.

Financial Motivations

“We would take the fight right away. It’s not an easy fight. Crawford is a great fighter, pound-for-pound #1, #2 or #3,” said Robert Garcia to Fighthype when asked about his interest in a fight between Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Terence Crawford.

“He’s already 37, looking for the biggest payday. I think he’s looking at a fight against Canelo, where it would triple the money he could make against Vergil,” said Robert about Crawford. “So, he’s just playing it smart. I don’t blame him. He’s already 37 and looking at the best fights out there for him when it comes to finances.

“What I hear is it [Canelo-Crawford] may happen by May. I think Crawford is one of the best fighters out there, but he is up there in age. We won’t know until he fights again. There is that chance. It happens in boxing,” said Garcia about fighters age overnight, especially when they near their late 30s, like Crawford.

Terence is aging and nearing 38. He looked horrible in his last fight against Madrimov at 154, and he would likely be destroyed in a rematch or if he took on the kind of division, IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Muratazaliev. That guy is fighting at a higher level than Canelo now and has more power. What he would do to Crawford with his left hooks wouldn’t be pretty.

“I pick Canelo. He’s bigger, stronger [and younger than Crawford]. Canelo can take a really good punch. I see Crawford putting up a good fight. Cnaleo is the bigger guy physically, stronger,” said Garcia.