Terence Crawford says he has heard that WBC and WBO junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora has been defeated in sparring by former WBA champion Israil Madrimov.
Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) is downgrading Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs) before they even signed up for a fight. They are in negotiations and hope to put together a meeting at a date yet to be determined.
Crawford, 37, doesn’t like that Fundora suddenly showed interest in fighting him after he wasn’t eager to face him. This makes Crawford think that Fundora has changed his mind about him after watching his recent fight against Madrimov on August 3 and seeing him fight to win a close 12-round. unanimous decision.
Madrimov made Crawford look his age, and easily could have won if he had shown more initiative in rounds 10 to 12. The way Crawford looked in that fight, any top-tier 154-pounders would want to fight.
He should not be angry that Fundora is “licking his chops” to fight him because he saw what everyone saw. Crawford is showing signs of age, and is not the same junior middleweight fighter he was at 147, 140 and 135.
With Crawford fighting only once a year for the last four years from 2020, not fighting great opposition, and increasing in weight, the deterioration was bound to happen. He lost the hunger he had earlier in his career before he started getting paid well. It is something that happens to every person. Laziness sets in once a fighter starts making good money, and it happened to Crawford.
“It’s a fight on the table. If Fundora licks his chops on my performance against Israil Madrimov, then he should be licking my chops because Madrimov beat Fundora in sparring. So, who should lick his cooked? That’s what I heard,” said Terence Crawford Bernie Tha Boxerdevaluing his next potential opponent, WBC and WBO junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora.
It’s interesting how Crawford gets angry, forcing his own negative conclusions about why Fundora wants to fight now. Perhaps the real reason Fundora and his promoter want Crawford is because it’s a fight that will probably pay better than a title defense against Errol Spence. Not that they see Crawford as a sure win. He is now the most popular fighter in the 154lb division, and whoever faces him will get a good payday.
“I don’t understand why Shakur, Devin Haney, and I get the most hate out of everybody,” Crawford said. “You have two young black fighters in Shakur and Devin, who is at the top. You have done great things for them throughout their careers.”
Haney and Shakur Stevenson are not at the top of the sport. Haney just got beat, and Shakur might not even be the fifth best lightweight fighter. It’s not a PPV draw, and he could lose his next fight against William Zepeda.
“You made me manage my business from 2014, 2013 until today. Ten strong years as a champion. When you look at Devin. He imitated and copied the image of Floyd. He wanted to be like Floyd. He made a good thing to do that,” said Crawford.
