Crawford Thinks Like Canelo and Also Fears Fighting David Benavidez
The afterglow of Terence “Bud” Crawford’s stunning unanimous decision upset over Saul “Canelo” Álvarez on September 13, 2025, at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium has barely faded, yet the whispers have already begun: Is the newly minted undisputed super middleweight champion—now 42-0 with 31 knockouts—sidestepping the next big test? At 37, Crawford became the first male boxer to claim undisputed glory in three weight classes, hoisting the WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and Ring belts after outboxing the Mexican icon in a tactical masterclass streamed to millions on Netflix. But as Riyadh Season powerbroker Turki Alalshikh floats a superfight with David “Mexican Monster” Benavidez, Crawford’s camp is slamming the door shut, drawing eerie parallels to Canelo’s own history of selective matchmaking. Critics are piling on, accusing Bud of adopting the same “ducking” playbook that dogged Álvarez for years.
The fight was a revelation. Crawford, leaping two divisions from welterweight, entered as a +250 underdog against the 34-year-old Álvarez, whose 21 defenses at 168 pounds made him boxing’s $400 million face. CompuBox stats painted a portrait of precision: Bud landed 58 jabs to Canelo’s 42, his switch-hitting counters—highlighted by a ninth-round left hook that buckled the champ—swinging rounds decisively. Judges scored it 116-112, 115-113, twice, validating Crawford’s elusiveness over Canelo’s pressure. “I’m the face of boxing now,” Crawford declared post-fight, tears flowing as he clutched the hardware. “No more Canelos.” Yet, when pressed on legacy-defining foes like Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs), the narrative shifted. On the Pound4Pound podcast days before the bout, Crawford dismissed the idea outright: “Benavidez is a big dude… six-foot-something, coming in at 190, 200 pounds probably. I might as well go to heavyweight.” It’s a stance that echoes Canelo’s evasion of Benavidez, the relentless Phoenix southpaw who hounded Álvarez for a decade, only to be snubbed in favor of safer, bigger paydays like John Ryder and Jaime Munguia.
Enter Brian “BoMac” McIntyre, Crawford’s trainer and longtime strategist. In a Fight Hub TV interview on September 14, BoMac poured cold water on the matchup: “No, we ain’t doing that fight… We’re just going to sit where we need to sit for a minute.” The rejection stung, especially after Alalshikh’s cheeky X post the next day: “Can David Benavidez still make 168 pounds?”—a not-so-subtle nudge toward a clash that could shatter pay-per-view records. Benavidez, fresh off a WBC interim light heavyweight title win over Oleksandr Gvozdyk in 2024, has since campaigned at 175 but dominated at super middleweight earlier in his career. His father and trainer, José Benavidez Sr., fired back: “David would be too big for Crawford.” Fans on X erupted, with #CrawfordDuckingBenavidez trending alongside memes of Bud “running” like he did against Canelo. One viral post quipped: “Canelo ducked Benavidez for years, now Crawford’s doing the same. History repeats.”
The fear factor isn’t unfounded. At 6’2″ with a 74.5-inch reach—matching Crawford’s but towering over his 5’8″ frame—Benavidez embodies the volume-punching nightmare Álvarez avoided. Canelo, thick but compact at 168, was “not a big dude,” per Crawford, allowing Bud’s mobility to shine. Benavidez, however, walks through shots, his 24 knockouts fueled by relentless pressure that dismantled Demetrius Andrade in 2023. “The things Crawford did to Canelo wouldn’t work against Benavidez,” analyst Dan Rafael noted on ESPN, predicting the Monster would “track him down and bury him.” X users amplified the shade: “Crawford beat a faded Canelo, but Benavidez? Nah, he’s ducking like his boy.” Even Benavidez himself, prepping for Anthony Yarde on November 22, showed little interest: “Let Terence Crawford live. That’s his weight class now.”
This isn’t Crawford’s first brush with avoidance accusations. His 2023 welterweight masterclass over Errol Spence Jr. faced “cherry-picking” jabs, and now, with middleweight (160) on the horizon—”I might go down,” he teased to Ring Magazine—vacating 168 belts feels like legacy insurance. Promoter Bob Arum defends it as smart business: “Bud’s conquered divisions; why risk it all on a giant?” But purists disagree. As one Boxing News 24 op-ed blasted: “Crawford must beat Benavidez to legitimize his all-time claim—or he’s just another selective GOAT.” Echoes of Canelo’s post-Bivol decline, where mental fatigue set in after dodging the Monster, haunt the discourse. If Crawford truly thinks like the man he dethroned—prioritizing paydays over perils—his Mount Rushmore bid might stall.
The undercard’s Christian Mbilli-Lester Martinez interim WBC clash now looks prophetic, with Benavidez lurking as the uncrowned king. As negotiations swirl—Alalshikh’s millions vs. Crawford’s caution—the boxing world watches. Will Bud embrace the monster, or mirror Canelo’s fade? In a sport built on bravery, fear disguised as strategy could tarnish a flawless record. The bell tolls; the choice is Bud’s.
