Crawford Owes Turki Alalshikh A Favor After Canelo Gift

Terrence Crawford credits Turki Al-Sheikh for choosing him as the man to fight the lackluster Canelo Alvarez to dethrone him from his perch as king of the 168-pound division.

Turki wanted Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs) to be the man fighting the Mexican star instead of David Benavidez, who American fans wanted to see fight Alvarez. No one was asking about Canelo Crawford. Fans wanted Canelo to fight these guys:

1. David Benavidez
2. Dmitry Bivol
3. Jaron Ennis

Crawford wasn’t even on the list. His fighting style never resonated with the larger audience and was preferred more by fans who enjoy Tom and Jerry fights.

Netflix’s numbers tell the truth

As we have seen, it was not the “battle of the century.” It was boring, and Netflix’s viewing figures of 41 million viewers weren’t even half that of Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson’s 108 million in 2024.

Turk’s recent comment on

It’s time to pay the price for my Turk in blood

And since this is what Turk wants, doesn’t Crawford owe it to him to give him the fight he wants? I mean, he was paid $50 million for the Canelo fight, and it wasn’t the match the United States or the global audience wanted.

Crawford should Show his gratitude By facing Benavidez and presenting an enjoyable fight for him and the American fans. They just watched a boring fight between Canelo and Crawford that didn’t even match the fun of the undercard fight between Lester Martinez and Christian Mbele.

Crawford has been calling himself worthy of being among the all-time greats, saying, “Now I’m on top of Mount Rushmore.”

Only Benavidez can verify Crawford’s authenticity

If Terrence wants to be at the top or one of the top three fighters of all time, he owes it to Turk, to himself, and to the fans to face the walking guillotine David Benavidez. It’s the only way people can remember him as an all-time great, because overcoming Canelo’s washed-out car and Errol Spence’s ruined car accident isn’t good enough for Crawford to be on Mount Rushmore.

Chris Williams has been covering boxing since 2010, providing fans with authoritative analysis and insight from the action in the ring to the headlines.