{"id":310762,"date":"2025-12-11T21:34:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T21:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/310762\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T21:34:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T21:34:07","slug":"3-potential-fights-for-terence-crawford-if-he-doesnt-take-canelo-rematch-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/310762\/","title":{"rendered":"3 potential fights for Terence Crawford if he doesn’t take Canelo rematch next"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who could Terence Crawford<\/a> face next if he doesn\u2019t agree to an immediate rematch with Canelo Alvarez<\/a>?<\/p>\n

\u2018Bud\u2019 became a three-division undisputed champion by dethroning Canelo<\/a> with a unanimous decision victory this past September.<\/p>\n

As a result, he has cemented his greatness in the sport, especially given the tremendous size disadvantage he was grappled with in his last assignment.<\/p>\n

Despite being a betting underdog, \u2018Bud\u2019s dominant performance left most fans satisfied with the conclusion of the outcome and very few calling for a second fight<\/a>. With that in mind, there are at least three alternative fights that would further enhance Crawford\u2019s legacy\u2026<\/p>\n

Janibek Alimkhanuly<\/p>\n

The most intriguing matchup for Crawford at this stage in his career is against unified world middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly.<\/p>\n

Widely considered the top dog at 160lbs, Alimkhanuly brings a dynamic, yet no less ferocious style to the ring, always looking to break his opponents down with a typically methodical approach.<\/p>\n

The unbeaten Kazakh was gearing up to face WBA champion Erislandy Lara on December 6, but tested positive for a banned substance in the days leading up to the bout.<\/p>\n

He has maintained his innocence, and if he is able to clear his name, then a bout against Crawford would certainly still be an interesting one. If not, it could now pave the way for Lara to get the shot at Crawford instead.<\/p>\n

Sebastian Fundora<\/p>\n

Crawford has, of course, already claimed world honours at 154lbs \u2013 outpointing Israil Madrimov last year \u2013 but a clash with Sebastian Fundora would nonetheless make for a compelling contest.<\/p>\n

With \u2018Bud\u2019 giving up nearly a foot in height, this would certainly be a tall order \u2013 even for someone of Crawford\u2019s calibre \u2013 and would offer the elite technician a vastly different test to anything he has previously encountered.<\/p>\n

Fundora, it seems, is gearing up to defend his WBC world title against Keith Thurman in the new year.<\/p>\n

But then, perhaps midway through 2026, a potential move back down to super-welterweight could see Crawford attempt to topple the \u2018Towering Inferno\u2019.<\/p>\n

Vergil Ortiz Jr<\/p>\n

There are many who believe that Vergil Ortiz Jr is the current flagship fighter at 154lbs, even if reigning champions Fundora and Bakhram Murtazaliev would likely insist otherwise.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old reminded us of his vicious power earlier this month, producing a ruthless display to halt Erickson Lubin in two rounds.<\/p>\n

His credibility as a truly heavy-handed operator could therefore provide Crawford with a high-risk challenge, perhaps even establishing him as the biggest puncher that \u2018Bud\u2019 has ever shared a ring with.<\/p>\n

Crawford, of course, would be considered a sizable favourite against the unbeaten contender. But even so, Ortiz could nonetheless pose a genuine threat to the Nebraskan\u2019s unblemished record.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Who could Terence Crawford face next if he doesn\u2019t agree to an immediate rematch with Canelo Alvarez? \u2018Bud\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292291,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-310762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}