Did Terence Crawford Remove Himself From The Canelo Alvarez Sweepstakes?

It’s hard to dissuade someone from reaching at tens of millions of dollars if it’s seemingly within arm’s reach.

In the year-plus since Terence Crawford battered and stopped Errol Spence in the first and only true blockbuster of his career, the only fight the Omaha, Nebraska native has openly lusted after is one versus unified super middleweight champ Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

It’s hard to blame anyone remotely close to the 168 lb. limit for taking a shot at landing a bout with boxing’s cash cow.

After having a tougher time than expected in winning his debut at 154 lbs. Saturday night at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, people are now openly talking about the perceived folly of Crawford moving up two additional weight classes to fight one of the pound-for-pound best in boxing.

To be fair, Crawford’s opponent Israil Madrimov presented an awkward stylistic challenge for the multi-division world champ. He also committed very few exploitable errors that could be countered. The end result of the new WBA junior middleweight’s efforts was a closer-than-anticipated decision victory and, ultimately, a lot of doubt as to his ability to compete above 154.

Crawford sponsor and chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, Turki Alalshikh, has been pushing for a Canelo-Crawford clash since he first made the 36-year-old talent a “Global Ambassador” for the Saudis’ Riyadh Season initiative.

Prior to the main event on Saturday, Alalshikh reiterated his desire to make the fight, albeit a bit ominously.

“I give him the offer,” he said of Canelo, who has a bout scheduled against Edgar Berlanga on September 14. “If he’s smart, he will accept it.”

The Saudi power broker also targeted a bout with Vergil Ortiz Jr. as a backup if an Alvarez fight can’t be made.

The slight hedging of his bet is a notable contrast to Alalshikh’s tone back in May when he appeared on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani and seemed as though he was pretty much taking the Canelo fight for granted.

“I hope nobody stands in our way…because, in the end, if we want it, we will do it,” he said, in reference to a IBF mandated title defense for Alvarez possibly standing in the way of Canelo-Crawford plans.

Crawford, himself, addressed the possibility of a big-ticket fight with the Mexican superstar following his win over Madrimov.

“If the money is right, you’ve got to fight,” Crawford declared in his post-fight interview when asked about the possibility of facing Canelo.

However, more and more people seem to be doubting whether Canelo-Crawford would be competitive and whether it would really just be a cash grab for the soon-to-be 37-year-old four-division world champ.

“To me, 168’s a huge jump,” Madrimov promoter Eddie Hearn said in the post-fight press conference. “Terence really struggled to come to terms with the movement and the skill and the right hand of Israil Madrimov.”

For the record, Alvarez, himself, has distanced himself from the possibility of fighting Crawford, claiming the bout is a no-win proposition for him.

“I have nothing to gain and everything to lose,” Alvarez said back in February, when asked about a Crawford bout. “If I beat him everyone will say he was too small.”